No Rest for the Wicked Winter
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Lea and her guardian friends go on an epic adventure to a land where fairy tales are real! And go to...high school?
1. Chapter 1

**Redbat132: Hey, everyone. Here is the RotG story that takes place around the end of the other epic crossover, 'You Need To Believe To Be Free'. Wicca West belongs to RD, I only own Lea and Nightlight. And we both have collaborated into making a new character in the EAH universe. You just have to wait and see. ;) The rest of the character belong to their respected owners. Anyway, without further a due, the moment you've all been waiting for, let the story begin. Hope you all enjoy.**

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Once upon a time, in a far away land called Ever After, all was beautiful and well as always. Many next generation fairytale characters were enjoying themselves and taking things easy. Especially the Royals and Rebels. But today, little did anyone know, Ever After was about to have a few new visitors coming.

Around the parts of the Enchanted Forest, a glowing doorway appeared to reveal Katherine and Lea going through it.

"Here we are, Lea. The world of Ever After!" Katherine happily announced, gesturing her left hand to show the area.

The blonde teen stared at the gorgeous place she was in. This whole world was just as magical as all the other places she had seen from the Guardians' home. "Wow...This is beyond amazing, Kate!" she managed to say already walking around with her eyes wide with wonder.

Who's that?

Brooke! This is not the time for questions!

But Dad! Who is that?! You and Mom never tell me these things before the story starts!

Katherine couldn't help but chuckle at hearing them. "It's nice to finally hear you for the first time, Brooke Page. I am Katherine, the Guardian of Imagination. Also called Mother Goose. The blonde teen is my friend, Lea Carolina Thompson. She is into myths and legends plus believes in the Guardians of Childhood, the protectors of what children believe in."

A new voice was heard. "Then perhaps you can all narrate quieter, please? Some of us need to take a cat nap."

"Kitty! Don't be rude!" said another new voice. "It's not every day a new narrator is heard! It's hat-tastic to meet you, Katherine!"

"Same to you, Madeline. And sorry for disturbing your little catnap, Miss Cheshire," Katherine called out to the Mischief Making Feline before lowering her voice to talk to the narrators of this realm. "To explain plus recap, Lea and I came here to take a break from a long eventful adventure. Every once in a while, I go to a dimensional place to cut loose. And this is the first time in my centuries of traveling I bring a human friend along."

"I'm gonna need some Wonderland rosebud tea for this!" said the chipper voice, already coming out to reveal herself behind a tree.

Her hair was curly and wavy, and comes in three colors: dark turquoise, mint green, and dark purple or violet. She had bright blue-teal eyes and light skin. She appeared to be slightly petite in height and had a signature baby face. Her outfit attire appeared to be tea themed. She had on a mini purple teacup hat, a magenta puffy-sleeved layered dress with a blue bow around the waist, white leggings with blue polka dots covering her legs, and white-cream shoes with gold teapot-handle-resembling wedges or heels at the bottom of them.

"And I assume you're Maddie Hatter?" Katherine asked, not leaving her grin.

"You bet your tea trays I am!"

Lea turned around to see a girl with turquoise and purple-highlighted hair. "Oh! Hello. I'm Lea," the blonde teen said with a friendly smile and waved her hand.

"Already here for less than a few minutes and we've already met a few of the Wonderlandian girls," Katherine softly replied in amusement to Brooke. "Can't wait to meet the others."

"Others?" Lea questioned.

"You betchies! There's all kinds of fairytale friends here!" said Maddie. "We gotta show her around, Kitty!"

Turning her head, Lea noticed the girl on the tree named Kitty had long lavender hair pulled into curly high pigtails, sleek blue eyes with cat-like pupils, fair skin, and brownish-orange eyebrows. She wore maroon lipstick and had pointy blue clawed nails. Her clothes were pale colors of purple and blue with cat-like attributes and accessories that describe her mischievous charm.

"You give her the ten-cent tour. My cat nap is overdue and you're really rubbing me the wrong way," And the catty Kitty disappeared.

"Whoa! Did she just...?" Lea started, seriously intrigued by the disappearance of that lavender wearing, pigtailed girl.

"Disappear into thin air? Yes. When you're the daughter of the Cheshire Cat, it can be very handy in disappearing from one place to another," Katherine explained. "And you already know Madeline Hatter, the daughter of the Mad Hatter."

"Too. Cool!" Lea exclaimed. The blonde teen was beyond excited! She couldn't wait to meet more fairytale friends! "So, where to first?!"

"Good question. There are just so many places to check out here. It's just hard to choose. What do you recommend, Maddie?" Katherine questioned.

"I say...The Wonderland Haberdashery and Tea Shop!" Maddie skipped along. "Onward!"

"Perfect! Come along, Lea," Katherine said, already following the daughter of the Mad Hatter.

Not staying behind, Lea grinned and hurried to be by her storytelling friend's side.

Moments later, Lea was amazed as they entered the Village of Bookend. It was like a fairytale village but with a modern twist.

"So, what can you tell me about this dimension, Kate?" Lea asked, not keeping her eyes off the street.

"The world of Ever After is a land beyond imagination. The very same element I swore to protect," Katherine explained. "In this dimension, many of the next generation of characters from famous fairytales go to high school to learn what they become. It used to be where spellbinding students are destined to follow in the footsteps of their fairytale parents. However, thanks to one student, things have changed for the better."

"What do you mean?" Lea questioned, a bit confused.

Maddie pointed to someone sitting at an outdoor table underneath a teacup shade. "There's a conveniently placed example over there."

Lea looked and saw a beautiful girl with flawless fair skin, striking purple eyes, cascading long wavy black hair streaked with violet, magenta, and purple-maroon colors, and wore a spellbinding purple and black dress. On her head was a spiky metal headband-like tiara from the parted center of her hair. She had long, thick lashes, dark purple lipstick, and light-purple eyeshadow. Her eyelashes go into a wing at the end and so does her shadow. Her dress also has a chain, belt-like accessory around the waist. She even wore fishnet stockings, and open-toed short-wedged-high-heeled boots with buckles and an opening in the backs for shoes. Lea studied that her style was gothic-like.

"That's my best friend forever after, Raven Queen!" Maddie said. "Hey, Raven!"

"Raven Queen?" Lea looked at Katherine, only to see a smile on her face.

"Don't worry. She's actually very nice. You could say that she was the one that started the Royal and Rebel drama," Katherine assured.

"Royal and Rebel what now?" the blonde teen was seriously confused.

"Oh, right. You haven't read the story nor heard of it. Let me put this in a different way. Royals are fairytale students who do want to follow tradition of their parents in the story role. Rebels are the students who don't want to and choose a new path of what they want to be,"

"Ahhh," Lea nodded her head, slowly understanding. "So...what makes Raven so special?"

"She's the one who started the Rebel movement!" Maddie said happily.

"You see, Lea, in every fairytale, there's always a villain. And at Ever After High, everyone would be destined to play their part, regardless what it is, especially villains."

"What?! You mean they teach people to be villains?!" Lea was shocked to say the least.

Katherine nodded. "Yes. And Raven is the daughter of the most wicked villain of them all...The Evil Queen."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! The Evil Queen?! As in the same character with the magic mirror who wanted to be the fairest of them all so badly that she poisoned Snow White with a poison apple from 'Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs'!? THAT Evil Queen?!" Lea nearly exclaimed, a bit baffled.

"Yes. However, Raven doesn't want to follow the same ways as her mother. Even if people started off treating her like an outcast," Katherine reasoned.

Lea looked at Raven in sadness. She couldn't imagine what the daughter of someone evil had been through. Being alone and not having anyone. It nearly reminded her of Jack Frost before becoming a Guardian.

"Wow...Now I feel sorry for her," Lea replied.

"Yeah, poor innocent Raven had it hard for so long." said Katherine. "Everyone would run away from her. Even if she did nothing."

"And even worse, people would make up rumors like she would eat spiders for breakfast, or put 'Kick me I'm evil' signs on her back! And people would actually kick her!" Maddie added

Lea's jaw dropped. How could anyone do such a thing to Raven?!

Just then, she spotted a boy in a green fedora and studded boots sneaking up behind Raven carrying a sign. He was going to put it on her back!

Lea's body moved on its own. She charged at the boy and sucker punched him in the face. "DON'T YOU DARE!" she roared.

Looking closely, Lea noticed that the boy she punched had light skin, olive green eyes, red hair and a soul patch. He wore a studded leather jacket over a black shirt, gray pants, and black boots with gold features. His accessories were a feathered green felt cap, a green kerchief around his neck, along with studded gloves and a gold pendant. His style appeared to be similar to a punk Rockstar's, due to the studded and buckled accessories and piercings in both ears.

Katherine's eyes were slightly wide in surprise. This is the first time up close she had every seen Lea use brute force fists on anyone. Then again, it would make sense for a New Yorker girl that's spent her life in the big city to stand and defend against bad people.

"If only the Guardians of Childhood can see her now," Katherine quietly muttered.

Raven stared, shocked to her core. Bystanders were too stunned to move or even respond. Lea walked over to the boy and picked up the note he was about to put on Raven's back. After reading it, Lea scowled and brought the note to Raven. "Sorry you had to see that. But that punk with the hat was going to stick this on your back."

Raven read the note out loud. "'Kick me, I'm Raven Pansy'?!"

"WHAT?!" a voice screeched. It turns out Raven was sitting with someone. Lea didn't notice because she wore a black cape with green spirals to represent tornadoes and black witch's hat. When she stomped forward, Lea gasped when she saw that the girl had green skin like a Halloween witch. Along with black asymmetric short hair with green streaks, green eyes, a short black dress with a green belt with a silver W shaped belt buckle, red lipstick and short red boots that look like the red ruby slipper kind.

The boy groaned as he rubbed his sore cheek. The witch girl pointed her green finger at him.

As this pain you will feel be sore.

You shall keep hitting yourself forever more!

Green magic shot from her fingertip and hit the boy. His fist was raised up and began punching himself in the face!

Lea placed hand on her mouth, seriously too stunned to see what that green-skinned girl just did.

"Um, K-Ka-Kate? Wh-who exactly is she?" Lea questioned, not keeping her eyes off the witch-themed girl.

"That would be Wicca West. She's the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West that's from the tale of 'The Wizard of Oz'," Katherine explained. "Wicca is a Royal that wants to be the baddest of them all while, at the same time, help plus defend the Rebels' choices, like Raven. Even considered extremely powerful."

Lea gulped, starting to feel her confidence slip away when knowing Wicca.

"Um, Wicca? I think Sparrow learned his lesson." said Raven. "You can call off the spell."

Wicca looked at the boy named Sparrow. Her spell made him punch himself in the face repeatedly. Seeing tge pleading look on Raven's face, Wicca sighed and undid the spell.

Sparrow felt like he was trampled by an ogre army. Wicca marched up to the defeated boy. "You know, it's not smart messing with a wicked witch, especially friends of hers.

Sparrow gulped. "But...I...I didn't see you!"

"Story of my life." Wicca rolled her eyes. "NOW GET OUT OF HERE BEFORE I TURN YOU INTO GRAVY FOR MY LUNCH!"

Sparrow screamed and ran as fast as the gingerbread man.

"Oh, dear," Lea whimpered, slowly moving back.

The blonde teen understood what Sparrow tried to do was wrong, but the punishment on him seemed a bit extreme. She seriously didn't want to get on the daughter of the Wicked Witch's bad side.

Just then, she felt her backpack opening to have her little wooden friend's face pop up to know what's going on.

Lea lightly squeaked in concern. "Stay low, Nightlight. I don't want you to get hurt," she quietly said, trying not to make matters worse.

Nightlight slipped back inside before zipping the bag closed. Hearing footsteps, Lea gasped when she saw Wicca coming her way.

Lea became terrified by the witch's presence. Was she going to turn Lea into a frog?! Or make her act like a chicken?! So many horrific thoughts raced through her mind.

Wicca smiled. "I saw what you did back there. That was pretty sick with that knuckle sandwich!" She gave Lea's shoulder a friendly nudge. "I don't think I've ever seen a girl tough enough to stick it to that loser Sparrow besides...well, me!"

"Oh! Um, th-th-thanks," Lea stuttered, tugging her backpack close to her back in both shyness and nervousness. "I-it was really nothing. I'm sure someone else would have done the same to defend Raven."

"Well, I do appreciate it." Raven said. "I'm not used to having people on my side. So, this is a nice change of pace. So, who are you?"

"I'm Lea. Lea Carolina Thompson," the blonde teen answered, still a bit shy. "I don't actually live here. I'm just visiting with my friend, Katherine."

"She's right," Katherine replied, already walking closer to the Magical Girls. "We're actually from another world where a few known legends and myths protect children of the world from fear and darkness. Thought this would be the perfect place to just cut loose after the exciting adventure we experienced when saving the Guardians of Childhood."

Wicca arched a brow. "What's wrong with a little fear and darkness?"

"Wicca..." Raven started.

"Okay, okay, you have your reasons." Wicca said, rolling her eyes again.

"There's nothing wrong with it!" Lea immediately spoke out, trying not to provoke the next Wicked Witch of the West. "It's just...without wonder, hope, dreams, good memories, fun, and imagination, children would be sad and miserable. And if the children stop believing in the Guardians of Childhood, they would vanish from none-existence! I nearly even lost Katherine because of what Pitch tried to do last time!"

Wicca and Raven appeared confused.

"Pitch?" questioned Raven.

"You know! Pitch Black!" Lea exclaimed.

"Um...I have a dress that's pitch black. There are many different shades of black." said Wicca. "But I don't know anyone named Pitch Black."

Raven turned to Wicca. "What do you mean there are many shades of black? Isn't black 'black'?"

Wicca shook her head. "No, Raven. There're all kinds. Pitch black, eerie black, spooky black, black cat black, midnight black, sadness black..."

Lea slowly turned to Katherine, wondering if this is actually happening. Did those two fairytale kids never even heard of the Boogey Man?!

Sighing, Katherine explained, "Pitch Black is the Boogey Man in our world. Also goes by the Nightmare King. He is the enemy of the Guardians of Childhood and would stop at nothing to be believed in with fear from children. He once used his Nightmare Creatures to capture and replace the Guardians. He trapped the real Guardians in coffin-like prisons that put them in an endless nightmare state that was slowly destroying them."

"It was horrible!" Lea exclaimed, shuddering at the thought of that terrible event.

"Are these guys for real?" Raven asked Wicca.

"Well, I don't think they would be saying all this crazy talk if it wasn't true." said Wicca.

"Of course, it's all real! I was almost taken by Jackmare, a Nightmare that's disguised as Jack Frost, the Guardian of Fun, if Katherine hadn't come in and saved me!" Lea nearly shouted. "And don't even get me started on facing Nightmare versions of North, yetis, Bunny, and bats. That was beyond insane."

Raven rubbed her chin. "You don't say..."

"Y'know, Raven. You said you want to write stories, right? Maybe these guys can help you," Wicca said. "This stuff sounds so good, it should be a story!"

"Way ahead of you, Wicca," Katherine replied, giving a wink while opening her handbag to reveal a dark green book with black lining. "As the Guardian of Imagination and Keeper of all stories, it is my job to record and tell fascinating tales. Some include all of you."

"How many books did you write about Ever After?" Lea questioned.

"Well, counting crossovers, I'd say...Twenty-two. Twenty-six, if you count the Lauhinians visiting here," Katherine answered, thinking how many she had written.

"There were others from different dimensions that have been here besides us?" Lea asked, a bit surprised.

"Of course. Ben Tennyson, Kai Green, Spider-Man, Dana the Ectonurite, and Azmuth the Great Thinker Galvan were in Ever After before we came along. There were even tales that few of the Ever After students went over to those characters' dimensional world and met their friends," Katherine explained.

"Cool! I so got to read those stories!" the blonde teen grinned.

Katherine gave the book to Wicca. It was titled 'New Villain in Town' by M.G. Joyce in gold letters. Curious, the witch opened it and when she read the first few pages, her green eyes nearly popped out of her head!

"HOLY CAULDRONS!" Wicca grabbed Katherine by the shirt. "How do you know all that?!"

"Whoa, easy, Wicca! The books from my home, the Ganderly, show me the upcoming tales with magic," Katherine answered calmly. "When I came to your story, it meant you were important and needed to be recorded."

Wicca's eyes flashed. "Well, you better keep these books to yourself. Or I will destroy you..." she growled, shoving the book back to Katherine.

Lea placed her hands on her mouth in distress. Whatever Katherine wrote about Wicca, it seemed to made her angry.

"Uh, hey! I thought we were going to a tea shop," Lea quickly said, trying to change the subject before Wicca tries to harm her best Bookworm Friend while getting Katherine out of the Wicked Witch's hold on her.

Raven managed to pull Wicca and Katherine apart. "Sure! We better get going!"

"Those dorks are immediately on my hit list!" Wicca said through her clenched teeth.

Lea gulped, not liking Wicca's reaction. She grabbed Katherine and hurried to get inside the tea shop.

"Kate, what did you do?!" the blonde teen exclaimed. "Wicca was just starting to like us for one minute. But the next, she threatened us! Which story did you give her?!"

"I might have given Wicca the very first story of how she started Ever After High. Although, I realized now that it was an unwise move. She had a different reaction about the story than I expected. I'm really sorry, Lea," Kate apologized, rubbing her neck sheepishly.

Lea started to hyperventilate, not wanting to be targeted by an evil witch that could turn her and Kate into toads. This was going to be a long day and vacation for her.


	2. Chapter 2

**In honor of Redbat132's two years of fanfiction, here is chapter 2! Enjoy and Happy Anniversary, Red! :)**

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The girls entered the Mad Hatter's Tea shop. It was like stepping into a tea-themed fun house!

From the outside, the place looked lively and hectic with a teacup structure as roofs, curved windows, and outdoor tables with teacups serving as shades. On the Inside of the shop, there were clocks that are inaccurate time-tellers that may set off, portals which transports to other universes, and a kitchen. More often than not, there occasionally seemed to be floating teacups and objects.

"Whoa..." Lea looked around the topsy-turvy place she was in.

"So, this is what it's actually like to be in the Wonderland Haberdashery & Tea Shoppe," Katherine replied, very pleased at everything.

Maddie hopped onto a table. "Okay, everyone! Let's get things started with some of our new yummy gummy scones!" She snapped her fingers and a plate of scones appeared floated in front of Lea.

Chairs moved over to the girls and placed themselves under their rears as a table dropped down in the middle of them.

Lea was about to say how amazing this was until she realized that she was sitting right next to Wicca.

EEK! Wicca West! she thought, nearly forgetting about that minor detail. Lea felt herself shaking a bit, tiny bits of sweat forming on her forehead. The blonde teen avoided her eyes from looking at the Wicked Witch from making matters worse.

Wicca scowled as she noticed one of her least favorite people was sitting right next to her. How did I wind up with this toad? she thought.

"Um, Katherine? M-Ma-Maybe we should come back her another time. I don't feel very hungry or in a tea-party mood," Lea gently replied.

The Guardian of Imagination shook her head. "Lea, please. Maddie has invited all of us here to enjoy ourselves. We can't be rude."

"But...but...Ohhh," Lea tried to explain, only to give up and groaned a little in defeat.

"So, what's the deal with you guys and this Guardian stuff?" asked Wicca. "How come we've never seen nor heard of them before?"

Katherine stirred her tea before answering. "Well, since this is a fairytale world and not the real world, the rules change. As other myths and legends, we Guardians can be seen by those that are in the same general subject. In our dimension, we are only seen by people who still believe in us. So, by being in Ever After, Guardians, such as I, are able to be like regular people and talk plus interact."

"And sometimes, Kate's work in the Guardians are protected and only exclusive to some people. No one on earth is supposed to know the real truth about the Guardians of Childhood. Including the background of how Jack Frost came to be," Lea explained. "There are those who would try to steal her work and rewrite as their own. At first, I thought M.G. Joyce was some mysterious author guy that only writes stories in the Golden Goose Bookstore. But, during Pitch's latest plan, I soon discovered that it was the work of my best friend, Kate, who writes under that name. Along with being a Guardian named Mother Goose, as well.

Kate chuckled a bit. "Guilty as charge."

"Mother Goose?!" Raven said. "But she's a guidance counselor at school!"

"There's another Mother Goose?!" Lea blurted out in shock.

"That may be true, in your world. But in Lea's, all the known myths and legends are different," Katherine pointed out. "We were chosen by the Man in the Moon, the very first Guardian and Protector of Wishes. Nicholas St. North aka Santa Claus is the Guardian of Wonder, E. Aster Bunnymund aka the Easter Bunny is the Guardian of Hope, Queen Toothiana or Tooth Fairy as she's known is the Guardian of Memories, Sanderson Mansnoozie or the Sandman is the Guardian of Dreams, and last but not least you have Jackson Overland Frost aka Jack Frost as the Guardian of Fun."

"He's one of my favorite myths!" Lea exclaimed, getting giddy about the talk of Guardians.

"Jack Frost?" Raven said.

"Uh, huh! Do you have a Jack Frost here?" Lea asked with a smile.

Raven rolled her eyes. "Well, we know Jackie Frost. She and her flunky slash brother, Northwind, almost took over Crystal's throne as the new queen of Winter."

"Yeah! Who does she think she is? Trying to play the villain game like that." Wicca slurped her tea as she rested her feet on the table. "She thinks too small. Why take over winter when you can take over the world?"

"Wait...You mean to tell me that there are descendants of Jack Frost in this world?! And they're bad!?" Lea questioned, seriously stunned by this news.

"Unfortunately," Katherine cringed a bit, taking a sip from her tea. "I was surprised as you while doing that story, 'Ever After High: Epic Winter'. I swear, it's like watching a movie or four-part television special but in book form."

Wicca rolled her eyes. "I can't believe you people actually know everything about us and make them into stories."

"What's the hatter with that, Wicca?" Maddie asked the witch. "We're all going to be legends in our own stories, aren't we?"

"Yeah, but it's none of their business to know personal stuff about us!" Wicca snapped.

Lea scooted away from the Wicked Witch from that outburst, now moving her backpack to her lap and hugging it.

"Wicca, only I have the ability to do that and know of your existence. The others and Lea have nothing to do with it," Katherine calmly reasoned. "As a Story Keeper, a Guardian of all things Imagination, I was chosen to be MiM's secret Guardian in recording every known history of the Guardians of Childhood. As time passed, with some training from Father Time, I was also assigned to make sure that stories from other worlds had good endings. Along with recording other legends from different dimensions. Both good and bad. I've been doing it for centuries."

"Then why would you come here?" Wicca's eyes flashed.

"We came here to take a break from the last adventure that happened involving Pitch Black," Katherine answered, not flinching on the Witch's cold glare. "Lea, along with a few friends she made from Ben Tennyson's world, finished saving our dimensional world from eternal darkness and the Guardians in becoming Nightmares. I knew I couldn't do it alone and would have been weakened from the many children's beliefs diminishing. It's why I brought Lea. I knew she would be the one to save the day by staying true to herself and believing with all her heart."

Lea looked down bashfully, blushing a little on Kate's words.

"So, you bozos are just here for a little vacation time?" Wicca's cold glare remained. "Sounds fishy, if you ask me."

"Don't be like that, Wicca." Raven said. "They're not causing any problems."

"Not yet." Wicca snipped before finishing her tea.

"We're really not. We would never do that. I would never do that!" Lea reasoned, raising both her arms to accidentally smack a flying teapot that dumped tea all over the table. "EEK! I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! Does anyone have any towels or napkins?!" she exclaimed, standing up and panicking every second for doing that.

"Lea, calm down," Katherine gently said, standing up while reaching her bag for some napkins to help clean up.

"I'll handle this." Raven flicked her fingers and the table was spotless!

"Oh. Right. Magic," Lea chuckled awkwardly, forgetting about being surrounded by magical teen girls from fairytales.

Just then, she noticed her backpack in her arms slowly opening. Eyes wide, Lea quickly smacked her hand on the opening and sat back down.

"Not now, Nightlight," she muttered quietly.

"I SAW THAT!" Wicca said in her shrill witch voice, making Lea scream. "What's in the bag, my pretty?!"

"Uh, uh,...I-I-It's nothing! Just my things!" Lea quickly answered, hugging her bag super tight while moving back. She was too scared. If Wicca and the others knew about Nightlight, they might make fun of her.

"Lea, please tell her. No one is going to judge you. Hiding it won't make this any easier," Katherine reasoned, trying to calm her friend down and preventing a situation.

"She's right." Wicca put a hand on Lea's shoulder, causing the frightened girl to flinch. "If not, I can just cast a little spell on you..."

Abruptly, her bag opened and popped came a little wooden toy that jumped on Wicca's shoulder-touching-hand while pointing his diamonded spear at her. The Witch let go and jumped back in startlement, which made Nightlight flip plus land on top of Lea's head and stay in his protective stance.

"WHAT THE HEX?!" Wicca nearly shouted that got everyone in the tea shop's attention.

Lea chuckled nervously, slowly getting her wooden friend off her head. "Everyone, meet Nightlight. He's my little companion and protector since I was a little girl," she gently placed him down on the table before talking to the little guy. "It's okay, Nightlight. They're my new friends in another new world."

Nightlight looked around at the colorful, wonderous place he was in and even more colorful girls at the table until facing Wicca, still not letting his guard down on the witch who threatened his girl. He also turned to Lea while pointing his head towards the Wicked Witch with a face asking if Wicca is one of her new friends or not.

"Yes, that also includes Wicca, too. Even if she does scare me a lot," Lea admitted sheepishly. "She means well, but can be a bit carried away sometimes. Especially with dark magic."

Nodding his head, Nightlight spun his staff until putting it away in his holster back and waved hello to Lea's new friends with a pleasant smile.

Wicca shrugged and took her seat. She didn't mind people being scared of her. In fact, she appreciated it. "So, where'd you get that thing? A Pinocchio knock-off shop?"

"Did someone say Pinocchio?!" A girl made of wood popped over to the table.

"GAH!" Lea jumped a bit when seeing that girl come out of nowhere.

She appeared to have dark brown, wavy hair with purple strands in her braid, wooden dark brown skin, and dark brown eyes. As for her outfit, it appeared artistic, bold and appealing with the colors yellow, purple and various shades of pink on her dress.

"Ah, Cedar Wood. The Daughter of Pinocchio. Nice to meet you," Katherine happily greeted.

"No way! THE Pinocchio?!" Lea gasped.

Cedar opened her mouth to speak, but Wicca quickly covered her mouth. "Best to warn you now; Do NOT tell her any secrets! She's cursed to tell the truth and blab them all out!"

Lea blinked on that. "Really? Good to know plus very interesting. Also, to answer Wicca's previous question, Nightlight was a handmade gift from my grandparents when I was small. Grandpa James crafted him while Grandma Laura painted him. He's been my childhood friend ever since."

She looked down at Nightlight with a smile when he gave a curtsy bow to Cedar Wood in saying hi.

"Aw! Aren't you just spellbinding!" Cedar cooed. She took a closer look at Nightlight. "Excellent craftsmanship!"

Lea could have sworn she saw Nightlight's cheeks turn darker teal blue on the compliment, giving a small chuckle.

"Yeah, my grandparents had an eye on that. I try to follow their example by creating handmade gifts for my family and friends," the blonde teen admitted, rubbing her neck.

"And Nightlight didn't start out alive. Let's just say that during Lea's very first adventure in meeting the Guardians of Childhood, it ended up with her Wooden Companion being broken but fixed back together with an extra magical item inside him that gave Nightlight life," Katherine added.

"Whoa...total mind-plosion!" Cedar said. "So, who are you guys?" She quickly gasped. "Wait! Is this a secret?! Oh, no! Don't tell me! I mean, I guess you can but-"

Wicca used a spell to close Cedar's mouth. "Maybe you should walk away before you numb my ears."

"What? No, this isn't a secret. I'm Lea Carolina Thompson, and this is my best friend, Katherine," Lea introduced herself and her friend to Cedar. "We're from another dimension and came here to take a break from an exciting adventure."

"If it was a secret, we wouldn't be telling you who we are. Also, there really isn't much to keep as a secret that I know of," Katherine replied calmly. "And if so, we would be careful not to say anything with the Daughter of Pinocchio around to ruin a surprise. Wicca, may you please release Cedar's mouth?"

Wicca sighed and undid her spell. Raven patted her friend's shoulder. "You and I need to work on your evil-tude."

"Thank you," Katherine politely said.

"I can't believe I'm actually meeting the daughter of Pinocchio, the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, the daughter of the Evil Queen, and the daughter of the Mad Hatter while in a Wonderland-themed tea-shop! This is nearly amazing and exciting as meeting the Guardians of Childhood for the first time at the North pole!" Lea exclaimed with glee.

"So, what else will you do on your trip here?" Raven asked. "We could show you around school!"

"Yeah," Wicca smiled wickedly. "We can show you the dungeon."

Raven shot her a look.

"What? The dungeon's awesome!" Wicca replied. "It's where I always go for detention!"

"What?! What's so great about spending detention in a dungeon?!" asked Lea.

Wicca was happy to answer. "It's dark! And spooky! And then there's Skinny!"

"Skinny?" Raven echoed.

"You know, that skeleton that's shackled to the wall! He and I play cards all the time!"

Katherine cleared her throat, telling Wicca to stop freaking Lea out. "How about we check around Ever After High to meet with the other Fairytale Students and then later on before the day is done, Lea and I find a place to sleep for the night?" she gently suggested, before seeing Wicca about to say something until Kate quickly said, "And no, we are not sleeping at the dungeons or at the Dark Forest or anywhere that would give one of us a heart attack."

"Killjoy..." Wicca said low enough for Katherine to hear.

"Hey, I am only trying to help Lea relax and, as a Guardian, it is my responsibility to protect children from harm," Katherine reasoned.

"I do like to meet the next generation fairytales. I should probably ask for some food to-go before checking out this Ever After High place," Lea grinned, seeing Nightlight agree.

"At your service!" Maddie grabbed a floating hat and reached into it. She pulled out a huge doggie bag of goodies. "A dozen sweets, a few pies, a complimentary tea set with tea supplies included!" Maddie tipped her hat. "And thank you for coming to the Wonderland Haberdashery and Tea Shop!"

Lea giggled a bit with happiness. "Thank you, Maddie. I'll definitely be coming back here to hangout this fun place."

"Definitely. However, there's still plenty of other places here we have yet to check out," Katherine pointed out, already getting the giant doggie bag and fitting it in her handbag as if it was nothing. "Good thing my handbag has plenty of room inside. It can even fit a person or more in here."

"Cool!" Raven said, already leaving the tea shop with Wicca, Katherine, and Lea.

Nightlight waved goodbye to Cedar and Maddie, whom was hoping to see them again like Lea, after she picked him up plus placed him on her left shoulder to sit on before leaving with the others.


	3. Chapter 3

"So, where to first?" Raven asked, walking at Bookend. "How about the Enchanted Forest?"

"Sure! I can definitely use some fresh-air plus a quick exercise," Lea said, liking that idea.

"And I need to find some toads so I can pluck their warts." said Wicca.

Lea gagged a little. "Warts?!"

"Yeah, toad warts are essential in potion making." said Wicca. "And while I'm at it, I'm gonna need some mouse tails and griffin toe nails. Maybe Ashlynn can help me with that."

"Isn't taking tails from mice a bit extreme plus abusive? They are living creatures, after all," Lea said.

The blonde teen didn't like seeing animals get hurt.

"Well, where else am I going to get mice tails?! Order them online?!" Wicca remarked.

"Don't worry, Lea. Apple White, Rosabella Beauty, and Ashlynn Ella have been working on a little potion to help animals regrow any missing fur, horns, tails, or limbs during Chemythstry class," Katherine assured. "It was part of an extra credit group project they were doing that can be beneficial in the fairytale world."

Lea gave a tiny grin. "That's a relief. Also, who are Apple White, Rosabella Beauty, and Ashlynn Ella?"

Raven smiled and pointed to three girls having a picnic together. "They're right over there."

Lea was almost taken aback by how beautiful these girls were! Their skin glowed like a sunset, their eyes sparkled like jewels, it was like they were made of magic!

The first girl had bright blue eyes, pale white skin, blonde curls-more beautiful and curlier than Lea's- and red lips. She wore a red heart-shaped top, white fancy jacket fit for a princess, a laced skirt, black stockings, and red high-heeled shoes. Her accessories were a red ribbon plus golden mini crown, gold bow earrings, gold bracelet, and apple ring on her right hand.

The second girl had long strawberry blonde hair pulled into a pumpkin-shaped bump and tied with a braid. She had emerald green eyes, peach skin, and pink lipstick. Her theme colors appeared to be aquamarine and coral pink. Lea could only guess that this girl is a nature enthusiast with her outfit having combined floral color and patterns.

And the third girl had wavy, brown hair streaked with dark red pulled away from her round face. She also had olive skin and brown glasses with a red rose on the top corners in front of her light pinkish-amber pink eyes, with plump cheeks and angled brows. Her outfit was a white top complimented with floral rose prints and light brown faux fur around the neck opening, yellow skirt with rose designs, and nearly knee length dark brown faux fur boots. Her accessory was a crown-like headband made of golden colored roses.

"Wow! They're all so gorgeous! Wait, are they all princesses? Do I look presentable? What should I say?" Lea exclaimed, having slight doubts introducing herself to royalty.

Katherine lightly chuckled. "Yes, they're all princesses. Yes, you look fine. And, to start, say hi. Just be yourself, Lea."

Nightlight nodded his head in agreement with a smile, already eager for his human blonde friend to meet new people.

"Hey, guys!" Raven waved to the princesses.

The princess who had blonde hair and skin white as snow was the first to wave back. "Hi, Raven!"

"Hey, Raven!" A girl with strawberry blonde hair waved, a songbird landed on her hand and whistled a cheery little tune.

"Who's this you brought with you?" asked the third princess with glasses.

"Uh...Hello," Lea waved her hand shyly while Nightlight happily waved hi. "I'm Lea. The little guy on my shoulder is Nightlight. And next to me is Katherine."

"We're from another world and came to Ever After for a much-needed small vacation," Katherine explained.

The princesses looked even more excited. "Really? What world are you from?" asked the blonde. "Wonderland? Neverland? Oz?"

"I'm from Brooklyn, New York. Real world instead of a Fairytale one," Lea sheepishly explained.

"I'm from around the same alternate dimension as Lea. In that world, it is protected by the Guardians of Childhood. A team where the different known myths and legends come together and protect children on earth from fear and darkness," Katherine replied.

"And Kate happens to be one of those Guardians," Lea pointed out.

"Wow! That's amazing!" said the girl with glasses. "I've never heard of those places!"

"So... what stories are you all from?" asked Lea.

"I can give you a hint. Think of their last names and take a closer look on their attire," Katherine suggested.

Lea peered close, checking back on the small details she missed. The blonde had that flawless white skin, the pumpkin haired girl had glass slippers, and the glasses wearing girl had chandelier earrings with a rose on them...Lea tried to put two and two together.

"Well, since your name is Apple White, that must mean you're from Snow White, " She pointed at Apple.

Apple smiled happily. "That's right."

"And, since you have glass slipper shoes, that would make you the daughter of Cinderella, Ashlynn Ella," She pointed at Ashlynn, whom gave a nod in saying she was correct.

"So, that leaves Rosabella. And she's from..." She pointed at Rosabella. "Um..."

"Beauty and the Beast." Rosabella said politely.

"Oh! That makes much more sense! Cool!" Lea smiled until she gasped. "Wait! Beauty and the Beast?! Does that mean there's a beast around here?!"

"Yes, but I can assure you he only became a beast once when being cursed by the Snow King...And another time when Northwind messed with the Staff of Winter that started the Spider-Man crossover involving the Well of Wonder," Katherine reasoned. "The prince that plays the Beast role is Daring Charming, the son of King Charming. And Daring happens to be in a relationship with Rosabella Beauty."

"Oh. Good to know...I really got to read those Ever After High books you made, Kate," Lea stated.

"Speaking of beasts, Rose, where's your boyfriend, Prince Low on Brains?" asked Wicca.

Rosabella frowned. "If you're referring to Daring, he's at book ball practice."

"Book ball?" Lea questioned, titling her head a bit on that subject.

"One of the most popular sports at Ever After. It's like football in your world, but in fairytale style," Katherine helped explain.

"Ahhh, gotcha. I'm more of a hockey player. Along with an ice-skater and baseball player," Lea said, referring to the hockey stick that was hanging behind her backpack.

"Really? Then you should meet Crystal Winter!" Apple suggested.

"Who?" asked Lea.

Katherine couldn't help but smile. "The daughter of the Snow King and Queen. She and her family are in charge of creating Winter in this world."

"Seriously?!" Lea exclaimed with excitement. "Oh, my frost! I can't believe it! Winter is my favorite season! I mean, yeah, I also think Spring, Summer, and Autumn are amazing too plus important, but still! This is soooo different from where I live!"

"Then why don't we take a fly up to her palace in the clouds?" Wicca snapped her fingers and her broomstick appeared in her hand.

"Wait, what?" Lea asked, tilting her head in confusement.

"Lea, Crystal and her parents live up in the clouds where it's always Winter," Katherine explained.

That got the blonde teen's eyes wide and her mouth gaping in shock. Luckily, Nightlight helped close it.

Snapping out of her own train of thought and taking a deep breath, Lea went to Wicca and said while nodding her head, "Yes. Definitely. I would love to. Let me put on my purple jacket,"

She unfolded her jacket around her waist and put it on with Nightlight heading for Lea's backpack to stay halfway in so he won't fall off during the ride.

"We're all gonna need some winter duds!" Wicca snapped her fingers and dressed in a long black winter coat trimmed with green fur. With a flick of her wrist, she conjured up winter clothes for everyone!

Katherine used her bag to take out her signature yellow fur coat and black snow boots. With a snap of her fingers, she was already wearing her Winter attire within seconds and her hair tied into a low ponytail.

"And for the final touch..." Wicca used a spell to extend her broom handle so it was long enough for everyone can ride. "There! All aboard the Wicked express!"

Raven leaned close to Wicca. "Why are you doing this? Are you working some kind of evil angle?"

"Come on, Raven. What evil could I possibly do in a kingdom of frozen rain? Lame!" Wicca rolled her eyes. "I'm just bored. And this seems like a decent way to kill some time."

"I can't believe I'm about to meet a royal Snow Princess! And possibly her royal parents! Oh, wow!" Lea exclaimed, already taking her seat on the broom handle. "Thank you, Wicca!"

Katherine chuckled. "Calm down, Lea. It's not like you haven't gone through a flying ride before. You've practically been on three different ones. Four, if you count Wicca taking us to the Winter Palace."

"I know. I'm just so excited," Lea admitted, unable to leave her happy smile. "Even Wicca, Apple, and Raven look wicked awesome in Winter clothes."

Wicca was surprised by that compliment. She would say thanks, but Wicca didn't do nice words. "Okay, So, Princess Apple Breath is coming along, what about you two?" she asked Ashlynn and Rosabella.

"Sorry, we can't, Wicca." said Ashlynn. "Rosabella and I are going to do some volunteer work at the Enchanted Lake.

Wicca shrugged. "Suit yourselves. Okay, everyone!" The witch clutched the handle. "Hold onto your butts!"

WHOOSH!

Wicca's broom soared high above the sky and through the clouds.

"WOOHOOHOOOOOOOO!" Lea laughed in enjoyment, still holding on tight on the broomstick.

After her past experiences in sudden flight rides, Lea was less scared and more exhilarated on flying.

"THIS IS AWESOME!" Lea shouted.

"One of the many perks of being a witch!" Wicca exclaimed.

She could see all of Ever After from where she was. The entire view was absolutely gorgeous! Lea saw a castle-like school, the Enchanted Forest, even flying colorful dragons from a far distance.

"Get ready. We're about to reach the top," Katherine warned, keeping an eye on Lea.

Nodding her head, Lea held on tight and ready for what was about to happen next.

"Welcome to The Top of the World!" Wicca said.

"Whoa..." Lea's breath was taken away when she saw the glorious Ice Palace.

It was a masterpiece of winter magic. There was nothing but hundreds of miles of deep snow with the skies always night and filled with Northern Lights. Lea felt like being in North's Palace but more icy and in the style of something more Jack Frost.

"This is the most beautiful place in this world I have ever seen!" Lea said in awe, not leaving her eyes off the gorgeous white landscape.

"It gets better. Trust me," Katherine assured.

The gang arrived at the gate. "YO!" Wicca shouted. "Is Her Royal Frostbite, Crystal Winter, in there?!"

"Wicca! Show some respect!" Apple chided, waving a finger.

"Oh, boy. This just got real," Lea said, already getting off and moving around in circles on top of the snow in worry. "Do I look okay? Am I dressed properly? Should I bow at their presence from avoiding being rude?"

While Lea was rambling and breathing heavily for her breath to show through the cold temperature in panic, the other Ever After character girls looked at Katherine on whether this was normal.

"Don't worry. Lea freaks out when meeting legends and fairytale myths all the time," Kate assured. "Once she meets Crystal Winter and her parents and get to know them better, Lea will calm down…Again."

The gates opened and a beautiful girl with long, wavy, mint green hair streaked with white and violet appeared. She had pale lavender skin, light-blue eyes, and pink lips. Even though it was freezing where they were, she only wore a simple beautiful snowflake dress with the collar a fur-line of short fluff, fluffy fur sleeves which has a pale lavender, violet, lilac and icy blue skirt underneath, and white boots with icy blue pom-poms attached to strings on the ends and laces. She wasn't bothered by the cold at all. In her hand was a wand made from blue crystal. Her accessories were a white and blue crystal frost crown-like bow on her head and matching necklace.

Lea finally stopped moving around and rambling when seeing this new girl at her presence. She didn't need a hint to tell her that this was Crystal Winter.

"Uh...Hi?" Lea managed to say nervously. On one hand, she was excited to meet the Snow Princess of the land. On the other, she was freaking out on the inside to making a good impression in front of her.

Before saying anything else, all the walking around in circles she caused earlier gave away and made half of her body sink in.

"GAH!" Lea shrieked from that unexpected fall.

"Whoa!" Raven and Apple pulled Lea up from out of the ground.

"That's one way to make a first impression." Wicca said, smirking while holding back an amused chuckle.

Apple gave Wicca a glare. "You could help, you know!"

"I am. I'm supervising and heckling. What more do you want?"

"You all right, Lea?" Katherine asked in concern.

"I'm okay. Thanks for the help," Lea politely said to Katherine, Raven and Apple. She felt her cheeks hot red in embarrassment. "Man, I really have a way in first meets with myths and legends," she muttered under her breath.

"Welcome to the Snow Palace!" Crystal greeted. "And who are you?"

"Uh...I, um..." Lea felt her throat dry and tongue stuck to the root of her mouth.

Seeing that her friend was still star-struck, Katherine decided to step in and help before giving a bow-like curtsy. "Greetings, Crystal Winter. My name is Katherine, Guardian of Imagination and Mother Goose from another alternate world. The girl behind me is my best friend, Lea Carolina Thompson. She is a huge fan of all things Winter and very excited to meet you,"

"Really? Well, any friend of the winter season is a friend of mine!" said Crystal. "Come inside and I'll show you around!"

Lea squealed with joy, already following Crystal Winter. Another thrilling adventure awaits!

Moments later, Crystal brought everyone inside the castle. They entered a factory of some sort where many blue-faced people were melting ice, shaping it, and making them into snowflakes! "Here, my family and the loyal subjects create winter for the Fairytale World!"

As they walked, Lea saw someone at the corner of her eye that caught her attention. It looked like a boy with white hair and blue eyes, but his skin was icy blue like the rest of the loyal subjects. Along with nearly the same height as them. The short frost elf wore a dark blue aviator fur-felt hat with icy snow-goggles on top, a red and dark purple printed scarf around his neck, a blue winter jacket accustomed with white fur around the neck hood and bottom sleeves, a strap carrying mini pouches around his waist, dark blue gloves, light blue pants, and high knee dark blue fur snow boots.

To Lea, he actually reminded her of a certain Winter Spirit she knows back home.

He also appeared to be collecting buckets of snow that were being accounted for.

"Is that...Jack?!" Lea said below her breath.

"No, Lea. That is not Jack Frost. However, I can understand the confusement," Katherine said, whom heard her. "That's Northwind, the son of Jack Frost from this world I mentioned before."

"What?! The same guy who tried to take over the Fairytale world's Winter Palace?! Why is he here!?" Lea exclaimed in shock.

"Well, after Northwind and Jackie failed their evil plan, they were punished with twice as much work as before." Katherine explained.

"Hold on, hold on, hold on! Jackie and Northwind work for Crystal's family?! And yet they try to overthrow them?!" Lea questioned in disbelief, seriously trying to understand while placing a hand on her forehead.

Katherine patted Lea on the back. "There's always a dark side in every story, Lea. This is just one of them."

Lea shook her head in disbelief as she kept walking with the group. Good thing Jack isn't here to know about this. He probably would freak out, she thought to herself.

Meanwhile, outside North's workshop, Jack Frost and Bunnymund were having a race.

"Come on, Cottontail! I'm not even trying!" Jack remarked, laughing in enjoyment while flying ahead.

"I'll show you trying, mate!" snapped Bunny. The duo charged through the tundra and all the way into North's workshop. They barreled through elves and tumbled over yetis. It an indoor demolition derby.

"Hey, Bunny! Think fast!" Jack quickly said, getting his staff to leave an icy trail to make Bunny slip.

"Oh, no ya don't!" Bunny jumped onto the wall and kicked Jack's staff out of his hand. It hit the ground and tumbled through an open door.

That made Jack tumble down until he landed on his face. "Ow! Not cool, Kangaroo!" he shouted, already getting up to brush himself and find his staff. But when Jack looked up, he gasped in awe. "Whoa..."

Inside the room were shelves and shelves of snow globes! But not just any snow globes. They were North's magic snow globes that take him anywhere in the world. It's how he manages to accomplish his Christmas Toy Deliveries so well all these years.

"So, this is where North keeps his teleporting snow globes," Jack smirked, already kicking his staff up to grab and put away on his holster before taking one mini globe off the shelves.

"Whoa! Not so fast, Frost!" Bunny came charging in. "You're not supposed to be in here!"

"Well, what about you, Cottontail?" Jack remarked, tossing the snowglobe around back and forth in his hands.

"Put that down or I'll make sure you'll never want to look in a mirror again!" Bunny bounced after Jack.

"I like to see you try!" Jack laughed, dodging in time.

The Snow Sprite zipped out of the room as Bunny chased after him. "I wonder where Lea is? She's always cool with me having some fun, unlike the Easter Kangaroo." He looked at the globe in his hands and smiled.

Just then, a picture of an interesting castle image appeared in the globe that was held by the Guardian of Fun.

"Nice!" Jack tossed the globe and a portal opened before him. Jack stepped inside as Bunny caught up to him.

"JACK!" Bunny jumped in after his friend.

Once going through, Jack landed at what looked like a forest with bright flowers and beautiful landscape. It was a place he had never seen before through his 300-year life as a Winter Spirit!

"Wow..." Jack muttered, looking around until he felt being tackled from behind by Bunny. "OOF!"

"Gotcha!" Bunny looked up, his eyes filled with wonder. "Crikey!"

"I know, right?!" Jack exclaimed, already getting off Bunny's grip. "I was wondering where Lea was and this magic portal globe brought me here!"

"But why would she be here?" Bunny asked out loud. "And on an equally important note: Where is here?!"

"Don't know. Thought you might have an idea," Jack shrugged, already walking around.

"Why don't we ask that Sheila over there?" Bunny pointed to a girl whom was laying against a tree while sleeping distance away.

She had peach skin and soft red lips. She had lime green streaks through her light medium brown hair that she wears in a braid. It nearly looked like a flower crown. Her outfit was a pink shirt that has a golden lace design on it, a long green vest with a similar lace design on both sides in the middle covering part of her shirt, mahogany leggings cover her legs, and green plus gold high heel sneaker shoes with vines sticking out around her ankles. As accessories, she had a belt that was like golden rope vines, hooped bean-like earrings, a green vine necklace, and a golden vine bracelet on her right wrist.

"Come on, Bunny. Did you forget the rules? We can only be seen by those who believe in us. And I don't think she can see nor hear us," Jack scoffed.

Bunny blinked. "Oh, right."

"But maybe we can get her attention." Jack went up to the girl until he was behind the tall trees and used his powers to conjure up a gust of icy cold wind.

When the wind touched her, the girl shot up, wide awake to reveal her dark brown eyes. "What the hex?!" she said, hugging herself as she shivered. "It's f-f-freezing out here!"

Jack couldn't help but laugh a bit. "That's the idea," the Guardian of Fun said, as he kept blowing his strong, chilly wind to get his point across.

"I gotta get out of here!" The girl took off. As she ran, a few beans fell out of a golden pouch that hung off her belt.

When the beans touched the ground, a giant beanstalk shot out of the ground and reached all the way up to the clouds.

"Whoa! Bunny, are you seeing this?!" Jack exclaimed.

Bunny stared with an open mouth. "I see it. But I don't believe it."

"Well, you better believe it!" Jack laughed when he gazed up at the huge stalk. "It's just like Jack and the Beanstalk!"

Not letting such a sweet opportunity go to waste, the Winter Spirit started moving up the beanstalk.

"Come on, Bunny, let's see how high this thing goes!" Jack recommended.

"Oh, no, mate! I'm not going up that deathtrap! Besides, we don't even know where we are or sure what's up there!" Bunny argued, folding his arms.

"Exactly! That's why I'm flying up to explore around!" Jack said, grinning on the possible fun that's just waiting for him. "You can stay here to see the sights on foot in finding Lea since you're clearly too chicken to follow me."

"Chicken?! Oh, that's it, Frost!" Bunny hopped his way up the stock chasing after Jack.

Jack Frost continued moving up and laughing all the way. Sometimes, Bunny makes it too easy for him to trick. While moving up, Jack can see the incredible view.

We are definitely not in the North Pole anymore, Jack thought to himself.

"Whoa!" Even Bunny was amazed by the sights from above. "I wonder what kind of people live here?"

"Come on, Cottontail!" Jack called out. He was already into the clouds!

"Oh, no ya don't!" Bunny raced up as fast as his furry feet can carry him. When they got to the top, the first thing Bunny felt was a gust of freezing cold wind.

"No way..." Jack said, flying down for his bare feet to touch snow to study his surroundings.

"IT'S FREEZING UP HERE!" Bunny yelled over the high-speed winds. "Where are we?!" He wrapped himself in his arms to keep warm.

"I have no idea, but I am loving this place!" Jack laughed, already making a backflip before landing on the ground to do snow angels. "It's like something out of fairytale books!"

"Can't we just go down the beanstalk where it was warmer?!" Bunny said through his chattering teeth.

"Okay, fine. We will." Jack got up before he curved a smile. "After we check out that awesome ice castle over there!" Jack flew off to the Ice Palace.

"FROST! Get back here!" Bunny hollered, chasing after the Guardian of Fun through the cold snowy grounds. "GAH! Can't feel my feet! I can't feel my feet!"


	4. Chapter 4

Inside the Ice Palace, Lea's breath was taken away seeing the glorious winter sights. "This place is amazing!"

"Whatever-after." said Wicca, looking at her phone. "It's just ice."

Lea turned to the wicked witch. "How could you say that?! Look at all the incredible things ice is capable of here in this castle!"

Wicca sneered. "I'll let you know when I care."

"Wicca, this whole trip was your idea, remember?" Raven said.

"And I'm regretting it already." Wicca droned.

"Don't take it too hard, Lea. As the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West, water can actually hurt Wicca. Which is why she isn't much of a fan of ice," Katherine explained.

Lea placed a hand on her mouth. "Oh...right...Sorry, Wicca. Winter, snow, ice, and frost are things that make me feel happy. If I knew you weren't into that, I probably could have asked someone else to take me here so you wouldn't feel...well, bored," she replied, feeling a bit bad.

Wicca rolled her eyes. "It's fine. I'll just make the best of this trip." Her green eyes spotted a royal servant carrying a box of snow balls. Wicca pointed at the servant's feet and cast a spell, making the servant slip and drop the snow balls all over him.

"Wicca! You better not act wicked like that around my parents!" said Crystal.

"I thought the future Ice Queen was supposed to be chill." Wicca retorted with a nasty smile.

"Ice Queen! Oh, my goodness! The Snow King and Queen!" Lea exclaimed, just remembering that important part after Wicca said 'Ice Queen'. "I nearly forgot about them! What should I say!? Am I even presentable enough to be at their presence?! Maybe I should be in fancy winter attire instead!"

"Lea, you're spiraling again. Deep breathes," Katherine instructed, resting a hand on her friend's shoulder.

The blonde teen followed her friend's advice, letting her breath become visible in the atmosphere when doing that.

"And I thought my mom was a drama queen." Raven joked, earning a laugh and a nudge from Wicca.

Crystal arrived to a large door made of flawless ice. "Just beyond this door is the king and queen of winter!" She opened the door and Lea gasped seeing the most lavish, icy room she ever saw.

Upon the room had three gorgeous thrones at the very room. From left to right, a small throne with pink details, a very large throne detailed with blue and gold colors, and a medium sized throne that had the same colors as the large one yet had a large heart with a snowflake on the center seat.

"Oh, wow! This...this is all so beautiful!" Lea said in awe, staring around the room while walking.

"Ah, Crystal! Who's this you brought with you?" said a friendly voice. A tall, strong built man walked in with a beautiful woman. They both had blonde, grey hair, healthy skin, and blue eyes.

Lea looked away from the room to see whom she assumed to be Crystal Winter's Royal Parents! She felt her heart racing with excitement and her mouth stuck in a joyful smile. The blonde teen was too star-struck in meeting them.

The tall, strong built man also had a beard and moustache that matched his hair. He wore a crown made of translucent ice, a royal outfit with light blue, dark blue, and mint green snowflake colored designs plus white fur lining, a royal dark blue cape with a light blue snowflake on the top center, dark blue gloves, and light grey snow boots. He even held what looked like a giant ice scepter that was taller than him.

The woman next to him had icy blue eye shadow, light purple lipstick, and light blush on her cheeks. Her hair was held up with mini braids around plus a crystal snowflake on the top center of her head. Along with frosty colored feathers around. Her royal blue snowflake dress was covered in white fox or wolf tails around, short dark blue gloves, light blue stockings, and dark blue heels. As an accessory, she had on a crystal ice necklace.

"Hello, Your Majesties," Katherine greeted politely before giving a curtsey. "My name is Katherine, Guardian of Imagination and Mother Goose from another dimension. This is my human best friend forever after, Lea Carolina Thompson, whom is very excited to meet you personally. She is a huge fan of all things Winter,"

Lea quickly put on a calm face, took a deep breath and bowed politely. "It's an absolute honor to meet you," she said as calm as she could.

Katherine gave a caring smile at her friend. "You're doing great," she whispered to Lea.

Just then, Lea felt a small tug on her hair to see it was her Childhood Friend getting her attention. Chuckling, she gently grabbed her Wooden Friend from behind to present him. "And this is Nightlight. My Childhood Companion since I was a little girl. He helps bring me courage," she introduced.

Nightlight waved his wooden right arm in saying hello, very happy to meet new friends.

"Ooh! Fascinating!" The Ice Queen examined the enchanted toy closely.

"Indeed! One of Geppetto's creations?" asked the Snow King.

"Oh, no. He was actually made by my grandparents, James and Laura," Lea explained, chuckling sheepishly. "How he magically came to life is an interesting story to tell. You see...Nightlight was accidently broken by two of the Guardians of Childhood that were in a deep argument on having a teen believer around,

"Which happened to be Lea when first meeting them," Katherine added. "But don't worry. Things worked out in the end and Nightlight was fixed by North, the Guardian of Wonder and Santa Claus."

"He also managed to put a magic crystal inside Nightlight that brings him to life as long as I still believe in the Guardians of Childhood using the matching crystal on my bracelet," Lea concluded, already bringing out her left wrist to show the bracelet with different colored and symbolled jewelry around plus the crystal in the center. "The different little charms around it I made myself. They each represent the Guardians I met and what they protect for the children of my world. The red square with a present represents Wonder, the upside green triangle with a blue Easter egg is Hope, the purple diamond with a white tooth represents Memories, yellow circle with golden sand is Dreams, blue hexagon with a snowflake represents Fun-not to mention one of my favorite myths-and the last charm I recently finished making the other day. It's a magenta colored pentagon with a white goose. That one is Imagination. Which happens to be my best friend, Kate, since she's the Guardian of Imagination."

"She didn't know I was a secret Guardian until the last adventure we had," Katherine pointed out.

"Amazing! Well, it's truly an honor to having you in our home!" said the Snow Queen.

Crystal nudged Lea. "Say, Lea. Wanna play some ice hockey? You and me. One on one!"

Lea smiled. "Why, thank you, Your Majesty." She gave a challenging sneer. "But you're going down!"

Before getting off to let his friend play, Nightlight tapped on Lea's arm in getting her attention before sticking his left foot up and pointing at it.

"Oh, right! Thanks for reminding me, Nightlight," Lea said while lowering her Childhood Companion down on the icy floor before taking off her backpack in getting something out of the middle zipper pocket. "Can't play hockey without the appropriate skates and safety gear."

She sat down, scurrying her hand through her black backpack to take out a pair of ice hockey blades. They appeared to be attached to flat soles that came with two adjustable red leather straps and heel supporter. She even grabbed some customized ice-blue shoulder and knee pads that had a snowflake on each of them. Along with some protective pink ice-skating gloves, just in case. Once slipping them on, Lea grabbed her hockey stick and set aside her backpack to the ground before going in the center.

The Snow King helped prep the course with his magic staff while the Snow Queen played as the referee.

As Lea and Crystal were getting ready to play, Raven saw Wicca wandering off. "Wicca? Where are you going?"

Wicca turned to Raven. "I'm gonna explore the rest of this ice box. Those two can slide on the ice and wave their toothpicks all day. Count me out."

Raven gave her a stern look. "You better not do anything wicked!"

"Chill, Rav. There's nothing wicked to do with snow and ice. It's just frozen water." Wicca said, quite snarky. "You know water never appeals to me." And the wicked witch walked away.

As she walked outside and checked her mirror phone, Wicca sighed. "Why can't there be a summer king and queen we can hang with?"

Suddenly, Wicca spotted two unfamiliar faces running through the snow.

"JACK! COME BACK HERE!" said Bunnymund.

Raven, who decided to follow Wicca just in case, found her witch friend staring with her mouth wide open. "Wicca?"

Wicca stared, inching her finger to tell Raven to see what she's seeing. Curious, the young sorceress saw what looked like a boy in a blue hoodie and a giant rabbit running through the snow.

"Here comes Peter Cottontail, hopping down the bunny trail!" Jack sang as he flew, laughing a bit.

"Don't you DARE sing that song!" Bunnymund yelled.

Raven's jaw went slack. "Talking...giant...rabbit?"

"Mm-hmm." said Wicca.

This was going to be a long yet interesting day for those girls…And vice versa with the two unexpected guests heading their way on top of the world.

Meanwhile, back inside the throne room, Katherine and Apple were sitting at the ice bleachers to watch Crystal and Lea go toe-to-toe with their indoor ice-hockey game. They also brought up Lea's bag close to them with Nightlight sitting on top.

"I must admit, I've never seen an ice-hockey game up close in person. Especially with Lea," Katherine said to Apple. "She has told me so much about her hockey game experiences. Even go to practice after leaving my bookstore. It's very nice to finally see her in action."

"Really?! Ooh! Then you're going to love this!" said Apple as the game began.

Crystal was the first to take it and skated past Lea. She tries to move close to the goal for her to get a perfect shot.

Just before she can make the shot, Lea slides by and steals the puck right in front of Crystal. The blonde teen goes around her goalie net and hurries to her opponent's. Lea knew that the Daughter of the Snow King plus Queen was hot on her trail but kept focusing on what's in front instead of behind. Not wasting any chances, she whacks the puck hard enough to fly straight forward into the goalie.

"Wow! She's good!" said the Snow King. "It's like she was born as a child of winter!"

Lea heard that and blushed a bit while helping move the puck back into the center. "Not really. I'm just a fan of Winter. Along with the sports, games, and perks with it. I have been practicing since I was five or six," she sheepishly admitted.

"AN OPENING!" Crystal took the puck and scored a goal.

"OH! You are going down!" Lea laughed in joy, chasing after the puck.

The two girls were having the time of their lives playing ice hockey. It started off with Lea winning the next three goals. Then, Crystal caught up on the other three after until the score was tied to four.

"Doing awesome, Crystal, but let's see who breaks the tie when I'm really trying," Lea said before moving the puck back to the center with her hockey stick and getting into position.

BOOM!

The wall came crashing down by a green explosion and Jack Frost came falling down in the middle of the rink.

"JACK?!" Lea screamed.

Wicca flew in on her broomstick. "I got him, Raven!"

"Okay, this is a foul!" said Crystal. "Whatever this is!"

"Oh, dear," Katherine muttered, her eyes wide and quickly standing up.

Lea quickly skated over to the Guardian of Fun and went down to help him up. "Jack, what are you-?! How did you-!? Ugh! Are you okay?!" she finally exclaimed, seriously stuck with so many questions on her mind.

"You know this weirdo?" asked Wicca, landing on her feet. "Hey, Raven! Did you catch that giant bunny?!" she called out.

Raven walked in with Bunnymund captured in a dome of purple magic. "Sure did."

The Guardian Hope was banging from his prison, saying something but no sound was coming out. The dome Raven conjured up was sound proof.

Lea screamed in panic. "Raven, let Bunny go! He and Jack are with me and Katherine!"

"Yes, that is Bunnymund, the Guardian of Hope we've been telling you about," Katherine explained, hurrying down. "And the boy with white hair Wicca blown across the ice palace is Jack, the Guardian of Fun."

"They're my friends!" Lea exclaimed, really concerned about Raven or Wicca hurting them.

"Oh." Wicca said.

Lea glared at Wicca. "Did you cast some kind of spell over him?!"

"Relax, I just blasted him with some dark magic. He'll be fine."

Jack groaned, slowly getting up while trying to keep balance with his staff. "Anyone caught the number of that bus?" he joked, placing a hand on his face.

"Raven, can you please release the Guardian of Hope out of your hold? And possibly give him warm yet breathable attire? Like a jacket and knitted mitts for his paws?" Katherine politely asked.

Raven nodded her head and let Bunny go, followed by giving him a green trench coat that had some detailed patterns representing Spring with golden egg-shaped buttons on the sides and red velvet fur lining inside, a purple sash around his waist where his boomerangs are now placed, dark purple fingerless gloves and matching footwear.

"Oi! You, Sheila, are so gonna pay for-!" Bunny started in anger, only to stop and find himself in warm attire. "Huh...not bad. I don't feel cold anymore."

Raven smiled. "You're welcome."

"So, you guys are friends with Lea?" asked Wicca.

"Of course, we are," Jack retorted, still trying to get his senses back from that crazy magic blast. "Why do you think we were looking for her?"

"Speaking of which, how did you and Bunny find us?" Lea questioned.

Katherine gave a playful grin at Bunny. "Let me guess...Little competition at North's that ended up in the globe storage room and snagging one in the process?"

"Right as rain, mate." said Bunny, still looking at the comfy jacket he was wearing.

Wicca looked carefully at Jack. "Say, you wouldn't be related to anyone named Northwind, would you?"

"Who? If you're talking about the Miser Brothers, I am SO not related to that Windbag!" Jack scoffed.

"Uh, Wicca? He's not the same Winter Sprite from this world you think Jack is," Lea said, really hoping that she doesn't go further about the discussion involving Northwind. "I already told you that Jack, Bunny, Katherine, and I are from another dimensional world where things are different from yours."

Wicca gave Jack a doubtful look. "Well, you can't be too careful."

Raven sighed. "Don't worry about it, guys. It takes a while for Wicca to trust people."

"Okay, will someone mind telling me where we are? And who are all these people? Along with this awesome Ice Castle?!" Jack questioned, seriously confused here.

"Uh, I'll explain as soon as we get back down on the ground," Lea said, already pushing Jack Frost out of the room. "Katherine, can you or one of the girls please get my bag plus Nightlight?"

"Fret not. I'll have one of the servants bring it to you." said the Ice Queen. She clapped twice and a servant came rushing in.

"Yo! Found your bag!" a familiar blue skinned, white haired boy shouted while picking up Lea's backpack with Nightlight hanging on.

"It's Northwind!" Apple gasped.

"Oh, no," Lea deadpanned lowly, not turning around to know what was going on behind her.

"North Wind?! Here!?" Jack quickly stopped, grabbing his staff and spun it like a pro while getting in a protective stance with Lea behind him in facing the problem better. "And he's got Nightlight!"

"He looks different. Must be a new disguise! Don't worry, Sheila, we'll get your friend back! We're not gonna let that no good spirit get the better of us like last time!" Bunny exclaimed, getting out his boomerangs.

Katherine just stared, not engaging unless it was absolutely necessary. Also, she wanted to see where this situation was going.

"Alright, North Wind. I don't know what you and Pitch are up to nor how and why you're here, but this evil plan of yours ends now," Jack stated, ready to blast a cold frost freeze while glaring. "Put the little guy down or things get ugly."

"And by things getting ugly, he means for you, mate!" Bunny added, not taking his eyes off the enemy.

Northwind just stared at all the angry faces looking at him. "Did I goof up again?"

"GUYS, STOP!" Lea quickly yelled in getting their attention. "That's not North Wind, North Wind! He's just a snow sprite with the same name as him. And he works for Crystal and her family as a loyal subject."

"Which does explain why Northwind showed up the same time the Snow Queen called for someone to get Lea's bag," Katherine reasoned. "Although same name, no relation to the Miser Brothers what so ever."

"Um...do you still need this backpack?" Northwind asked Lea.

"Y-Yes! You know what, I'll just get it myself," Lea said super-fast, already skating over to grab her bag with Nightlight climbing up to her shoulder. Up close, Northwind was a lot smaller in height compared to Lea than she expected. "I'm really sorry for the misunderstanding. Believe me, for once, you didn't do anything wrong. I'm sure you're doing a great job helping the Winter family. My friends thought you were someone else and are very protective plus jumpy since the last problem we dealt with. Thanks for getting it and trying to bring it for me, though."

Jack and Bunny just gave a quick glance at each other before looking at Lea from a distance, seriously lost here while easing up.

Northwind just shrugged everything off. "Okay, then."

The winter sprite walked off and left the room. As soon as he went down the hallway, he was grabbed by a set of hands and pulled into a dark closet.

"There you are! About time I found you," a female voice said, whom grabbed Northwind.

The one who pulled Northwind in a closet was a petite, blue-skinned frost elf. She looked similar to Northwind, but for feminine. She had short snow-white hair, white eyebrows, and violet eyes with violet lips to match. Even had long, beautiful eyelashes and a pert nose. She wore a green and blue-snowflake-patterned puffy bomber-style jacket with fur trim, with dark navy purple suspenders, glitter pants and fur boots. She also wore a long dark purple elf-like snow hat. As an accessory, the hat came with purple-and-green-lensed dark ski goggles.

"WHOA! Jackie?! What's the big idea?!" Northwind nearly exclaimed out loud.

Northwind's wicked sister, Jackie Frost, covered his mouth. "Quiet! If you talk too loudly and give us away, you'll ruin our new plan!"

"Really?! A new plan?! Sweet!" Northwind cheered through his covered mouth.

"Yeah, and trust me when I say, it's going to be our most wicked plan in taking over the Winter Palace ever after!" Jackie cackled lowly, grinning deviously.

* * *

**newbienovelistRD: Redbat132 has drawn a picture of Bunnymund in his Winter Outfit and posted it on their deviantart gallery! Feel free to check it out! :)**


	5. Chapter 5

Back at the throne room, Lea was being very apologetic to the whole 'Almost-Blasting-Northwind' incident. And the unexpected arrivals of her Guardian friends.

"Crystal, I can't tell you how completely sorry I am for the damage and trouble Jack and Bunny did. I can assure you, they didn't mean any harm," Lea apologized.

A strong gust of wind blew in from the large hole Wicca made in the castle wall.

"Maybe we should patch up this hole first." said Jack. "Hard to hear over that howling wind."

"I can get someone in the castle to take care of that," Crystal said.

"Actually, Your Majesties, that might not be necessary. I already know a certain Guardian who can handle anything ice related," Lea assured to Crystal and her family before turning to the Guardian of Fun. "Jack, may you please fix the giant hole you came through?"

"Piece of cake," Jack replied, already flying up to where the hole was. Concentrating, he made his staff glow and patch up the damage within seconds. "There we go. And one more final touch."

With his magic, Jack turned the hole into the most beautiful winter mural. It was a snowflake with the most exquisite sheen, the detailed fractals, it was a true masterpiece of nature.

"Wow! Now that is fairy-awesome!" Apple exclaimed in awe.

Katherine gave an admired smile at Jack Frost's amazing work.

"Your friend is frosty fable-ous, Lea," Crystal complimented, seriously amazed. "I've never seen anyone use Winter powers, except my parents and myself. Let alone fly like that."

"Well, that's Jack for ya. Guardian of Fun and Winter Maker in my world!" Lea admitted happily.

Nightlight nodded his head on that statement, standing up in a heroic pose to describe Lea's friend.

"Not to mention number one show pony." Bunnymund added.

"Don't make me freeze your cotton-tailed butt, Kangaroo," Jack remarked, slowly coming back down with ease. "Even with the new threads, I can still turn you into an ice rabbit sculpture."

Before Bunnymund could retort, Katherine cut in between him and Jack. "That's enough, you two. Let's just get back to having fun, okay?"

"Yeah, it wouldn't hurt for you guys to get along." Lea said.

"Fine." Jack and Bunnymund droned, not making eye contact with each other.

"Are they always like this?" Raven asked.

Lea shrugged. "More or less. Jack and Bunny have their mutual bonding moments."

"Lea, why don't you finish your hockey game against Crystal?" Katherine suggested.

"Wait, you were having a fun game and didn't tell us?!" Jack exclaimed; a bit surprised.

The blonde teen blushed a bit while rubbing her arm. "Well, I didn't know you were coming."

"True, but now you do. Come on, Bunny! Let's see Lea in action!" Jack eagerly said, already grabbing Bunny by the jacket collar and flying over to the bleachers.

"WHOA!" Bunny exclaimed, not expecting that move.

Katherine walked over to Lea. "Allow me to keep an eye on your things and Nightlight for you," she offered.

"But Kate. What about Northwind and Jackie Frost?" Lea whispered in concern, making sure the other Guardians don't hear her. "I don't want Jack and Bunny knowing about them. They'll totally flip out!"

"Lea, the reason we came here is to relax and have fun. Not get worked up. Just enjoy your time with Crystal Winter and continue playing," Katherine reasoned quietly.

The blonde teen wasn't so sure about this. Just then, Nightlight tugged her hair a little for attention and directed his head towards the Snow Princess. He was obviously siding with Katherine on telling Lea about finishing her game.

Sighing, Lea passed Nightlight while taking off her backpack to Katherine. "Okay. But once the game is done, we head back down to Ever After. I don't want Bunny catching a cold. Even if he is wearing some warm yet incredible winter attire."

"Of course. Goodluck out there, Lea," Katherine grinned, already moving up back into the bleachers to sit next between Jack and Bunny.

"Hey, Crystal. Is it okay if we finish this match before leaving?" Lea asked, already skating back into the center.

"Of course! Take a five-minute break while we set everything up again," Crystal said, very eager to continue.

Lea sighed in relief. "Oh, great. Also, I promise you, there won't be any more unexpected surprises."

The blonde teen hurried to where her friends were to sharpen up her skates.

Little did everyone knew, however, two frost elves disguised as snow owls were overhearing everything.

"That's what you think, outsider." said Jackie. "Okay, Northwind. You know the plan, right?"

"Totes!" Northwind said, nodding his head but had a blank expression on his feathery face. "Uh, what plan?"

Jackie groaned in annoyance, seriously tired of her brother's forgetfulness. "Seriously?! I just told you five minutes ago! One of our new guests is related to the baddest witch in all of Oz. Practically as dangerous and powerful as the Evil Queen. We just need to find some magical item or spell book that green-skinned witch brought and use it to take over this kingdom."

The elves flew over the group as they headed back to the ice rink. Raven, Apple and Wicca took their seats in the stands.

"So, you're not gonna wander off this time, Wicca?" asked Raven.

Wicca rolled her eyes. "Well, after that little adventure with the giant rabbit and the flying ice boy with the stick, I'd rather not. I need to relax a spell." Wicca reached into her witch's hat and took out a book. "I'll just catch up on my reading."

While everyone was enjoying the game, Nightlight felt his diamond-dagger staff glowing. It was blinking different times, as if trying to tell the wooden toy something. Curious, the Wooden Toy looked up to noticed two unusual snow owls flying from a distance. He had no idea why, but Nightlight believed that they were trouble and up to no good.

As Lea was getting ready, Nightlight tried to get Lea's attention.

"Not now, buddy. I got to hand Crystal her butt. It's not every day you play ice hockey with the future queen of winter." Once the skates were on, Lea got back out on the field.

With dipped shoulders, Nightlight took his staff and went off to find the snow owls without anyone noticing he left.

"You ready, Crystal?" Lea asked, getting in position.

"Definitely," Crystal smirked.

As the game began, it didn't take long for the Winter Spirit to question the Guardian of Imagination.

"So, Katherine, mind telling us about where we are and who all these people are?" Jack asked smoothly.

Katherine grinned, turning her direction to the Guardian of Fun. "I'm glad you asked. You see, Jack, this is the world of Ever After, a place where fairy tales are real as well as their descendants. The young lady Lea is playing with is Crystal Winter, the daughter of the Snow King and Queen."

"Descendants? I wonder if that girl Bunny and I met happened to be related to someone from the story, 'Jack and the Beanstalk'," Jack wondered out loud.

"Did she have brown braided hair with green vines, wore green, magenta and gold colors all over?" Katherine asked.

"Yep. She dropped some beans, made a beanstalk, and then we climbed up in arriving here," Jack clarified.

"That explains everything. The girl you and Bunny saw was Jillian Beanstalk, Jack and the Beanstalk's daughter. Also, since this is a fairytale world, the rules you two once knew in being seen are completely different," Kate explicated.

Jack groaned, leaning his head back in irritation. "Rules. The enemy of all things good."

Katherine held back a chuckle. "On the contrary, Jack, you might like them. You know how you and Bunny, along with the rest of us Guardians, are only seen by those who believe in us? Well, in here, that's no longer required. In Ever After, we can talk and interact with the people here like regular mortals...but still have our powers, of course."

"Are you serious?!" Jack said in shock, already lifting his head back up on that.

"Sure am. This is a fairytale world, and we are myths and legends ourselves. I was even planning to bring you and all the Guardians here as a surprise, one day. But it would seem you and Bunny already know," Katherine replied, kind of disappointed about her surprise being spoiled.

Jack patted his friend's shoulder. "Don't sweat it, Kathy. Let's make the best of it anyway."

Katherine flinched a bit on Jack's little shoulder touch for a second but looked up in his eyes with a caring smile. "Right. Might as well see where else this experience takes us," she said, already looking back at the game.

Luckily, Jack looked away in time from seeing Kate's cheeks flush a tiny shade of pink.

Bunny saw that blush from the corner of his eye, already hearing the whole conversation. Was it just him or did the rabbit saw a hint of romance?

"Come on, Crystal! Already two points ahead of you!" Lea hollered, making another shot in her opponent's goalie net to score again. "Make that three!"

"OH! You are going down!" Crystal said with icy determination.

Lea laughed in enjoyment. She's never had so much fun in a one-on-one hockey match before.

Crystal whacked the puck with all her might. Perhaps too much of her might for it went out of the field and almost hit Wicca! The witch ducked down, dropping her spell book.

"Wicca! Are you and everyone else okay?" Lea asked in worry.

Wicca didn't say anything. She slowly got up, ominously silent. As she stood up, Lea could feel a sense of dread that made her flesh crawl.

Wicca flashed her eyes in the direction of the two hockey players, making Lea squeal with fright.

Wicca pointed her black nailed finger at Lea and Crystal.

A spell of spite, this will bring.

Vengeance I strike with an itchy sting!

Crystal, whom reacted in time, used her wand-which is still an icy hockey stick-to create a shield in protecting herself from Wicca's spell.

Unfortunately, it didn't miss the blonde teen.

Suddenly, Lea felt her whole body start to itch! She dropped her stick and started scratching herself like crazy.

"GAH! I can't stop scratching this terrible itch!" Lea shrieked, scratching to a point that she lost her balance and fell on her back.

"Hey! What was that?!" Jack exclaimed, shooting a glare at the green-skinned girl.

Normally, Jack would enjoy a good friendly prank every now and then. But when it's making Lea look bad, that just crossed the line for him.

"Yeah, what gives, Sheila!?" Bunny nearly shouted, equally mad about someone messing with their friend.

"Wicca, cut it out. Lea and Crystal didn't mean to do it on purpose," Katherine sternly said, standing up and placing her hands on her hips. "Reverse that spell, right now, please."

"I don't know. This is a lot better to watch than ice hockey." said Wicca, enjoying the show of the blonde teen scratching her own body around the ice while putting down her spell book on her seat.

"Wicca!" Raven huffed.

Seeing the cross look on Raven's face, Wicca sighed. "Fine." She snapped her fingers and undid the spell.

Soon, Lea felt that terrible itching spell leaving her body and sighed in relief. "Thanks,"

Although it was over, the blonde teen felt a little embarrassed that her friends had to see that. Let alone the Snow King and Queen.

And, with everyone distracted, they failed to notice a snow mouse wearing mini googles plus spiky hair snag Wicca's book and escaped the room.

Jack, whom saw the distressed look on her face, got up from the bleachers, flew over to the blonde teen, and helped pick up her hockey stick plus stand back up. He noticed that Lea wasn't looking up from the ice.

"You all right?" Jack questioned, handing Lea her hockey-stick back.

"…I think I need a time out," Lea muttered, avoiding eye contact and skating out of the throne room while holding back some tears.

"LEA!" Jack hollered, now very concerned about her.

"Now look what you've done!" Raven snapped at Wicca.

Wicca looked at Raven square in the eye. "She had it coming for playing this stupid hockey game! In fact, this whole trip to this ice box was stupid! I'm leaving!" Wicca was ready to leave when something made her freeze. "Where's my book?"

"First of all, Wicca, coming here was literally your idea from the start," Katherine reminded, folding her arms with a stern look. "Second of all, you should never cast spells on the wrong person on something impractical. What if that was a dangerous spell and there was no going back?"

"She's right, Sheila. It could have been something horrible and accidentally hurt Lea. Or worse," Bunny added.

Wicca rolled her eyes. "Please. It was just a harmless itching spell. What could happen? She could have scratched her butt to death?" She looked around and growled. "WHERE THE HEX IS MY SPELL BOOK?!"

"That's not the point!" Jack yelled, slamming his staff on the ice that created a hard blow of wind and icy frost around him to get her attention. "What if that wasn't an itching spell?! That might have been a fire-blasting spell! Or some kind of death spell! She's not immortal like us!"

Katherine, whom was amazed of Jack standing up to defending Lea, looked down to notice the blonde teen wasn't the only person missing. She noticed the bag she kept an eye on for Lea didn't have Nightlight. And either Nightlight stole the book when no one was looking, left to find his blonde-teen friend, or something more sinister was at play.

"Wicca," said Raven. "What you did was wrong. And not the good kind of wrong. Just the bad kind."

Wicca sighed. "I know, it's just my witchy temper. I can't help it." said Wicca. "But we have to find my book, Raven. Inside it contains all sorts of dangerous incarnations and curses! That book in the wrong hands, besides mine obviously, could literally spell disaster!"

"Oh, no...Lea!" Jack exclaimed, knowing what the witch said isn't good. "She could be in danger with whoever has that book around! We need to find her."

"I might have a feeling on who took it," Katherine replied, placing a hand on her chin before looking at the Winter Family. "Your Majesties, if it's not too much trouble, we need some assistance in finding the thieves and our missing friends. Perhaps the Pixies can help us cover more ground with us, as well?"

"Of course." The Snow King snapped his fingers and two snow pixies arrived at the scene: Foxanne and Veronicub.

Veronicub appeared to be a small petite girl that has polar bear-like features such as her ears and a nose that connects to her mouth. Her wavy hair was bubblegum pink with white highlights, light pink eyes, and three small paw prints on her left cheek. She wore a light pink dress that had dark magenta, blue, plus purple mountains and snowflake prints all over. Along with a golden belt around her waist that matched her star-like crowns around her ears. And her shoes were crystal blue sneakers.

Foxanne looked like a small petite girl, like Veronicub. But she had white fox-like features with the nose connected to her mouth and ears sticking out from her icy blue paired low pony tails. Along with blue winter eyes. Her dress was patterned with pink foxes and white snowflakes that had the back dip down to give the illusion of a tail, a silver belt around her waist, pink and blue sparkly stockings, and short dark pink fur boots.

"Pixies!" Raven cooed. "Oh! So cute!"

"Oh! So NOT!" Wicca said with a gag.

Jack and Bunny both tilted their heads, seriously wondering if they're actually seeing this.

"Those...Are the pixies?" Bunny asked.

Katherine chuckled a bit, already going down to introduce them. "Boys, meet Foxanne and Veronicub. The Winter Pixies and one of Crystal's best friends in the Winter Palace. They'll help us out."

Jack crouched down to be around the same level as the Winter Pixies and gave them a pleasant smile. "Hi, there."

Foxanne moved closer and rubbed herself against Jack while Veronicub cuddled up to Raven.

"Awwww! So cute!" Apple squealed.

Jack deeply chuckled, slightly getting tickled by Foxanne's soft fur against his skin. "O-Okay, easy now!" He said, placing a hand on the side of her soft face caringly. "You and your friend are very sweet. Probably more adorable than the Easter Kangaroo."

"Oi! I am not a Kangaroo!" Bunny argued from a distance.

But Bunny suddenly giggled when something brushed against his side. He looked over and saw Veronicub stroking his side, feeling his soft fur after opening a little on his coat.

"I think Veronicub likes you, Bunny," Katherine said, giggling a bit on the cute sight before getting serious again. "Right then. Now that you're all acquainted, let's get the search party started. Wicca, Raven, and Jack, you go with Foxanne to check here, the East and South wings of the Winter Palace for the spell book. Apple, Bunny, and I will go with Veronicub in searching around the North and West wings for Lea. We meet back in the throne room in thirty-minutes."

"Good enough for me," Jack replied, already picking up Foxanne bridal-style while standing back up again. "Come on, ladies! Time to follow this bundle of joy on where to look,"

Katherine placed her right three middle fingers on her mouth, holding back a laugh on Jack's upbeat attitude in keeping things fun while in a serious mission. He truly did have a knack in bringing joy to kids like a true Guardian.

"So, where do you think Lea could have gone?" Apple wondered out loud.

"Well, knowing her, she's either hiding somewhere in this Ice Castle to cry or possibly looking for the exit to run through the snow and freeze herself to death," Jack guessed out loud. "And believe me, Bunny and I know from experience when she first met us. Right, Cottontail?"

"Way to keep it real, mate," Bunny said with an eyeroll. "Come on, let's get movin'!"

"Right. Foxanne with take you and your team on the following wings of the castle I previously mentioned with Veronicub doing the same for us on the opposite direction," Katherine said to Jack, already grabbing Lea's backpack plus her own handbag before going at the same exit her friend left at. "Come along, Bunny and Apple. Lead the way, Veronicub."

Using her heightened sense of smell, Veronicub picked up Lea's scent and followed it to the inner chambers of the castle.

With the two groups splitting up in hopes of finding Lea and the spell book, neither of them was aware of the dangers coming their way during the search. One that is a revenge best served ice cold.


	6. Chapter 6

Somewhere far away from the throne room, the snow mouse scurried to a complete stop while still carrying Wicca's spell book. With the coast finally clear, Jackie Frost turned back into her Winter Sprite form.

"Alright! Jackie Frost for the win!" Jackie laughed in triumph while jumping and hitting her heels at once. "Who knew stealing a witch's spell book would be as easy as taking candy from a baby?"

Little did she know, that Nightlight was hiding in a corner to witness and heard the whole thing. He was surprised to see this girl turn from a mouse to a Winter Sprite. But he felt like he had heard the name before from the conversation between Lea and Katherine.

Nightlight tried to bolt and warn Lea and the others, but someone managed to capture him from behind. It was Northwind.

"Hey! Look who it is! The little toy that girl with the wooden hockey stick has!" Northwind exclaimed with a grin, who was in his owl form until he changed back to have a tight hold on Nightlight. "You were attached to that backpack I was ordered to carry. And then those two weird guys were angry at me for some reason."

Nightlight struggled to get free, knowing he was in trouble.

"Well, we can't have a spy spoil our fun," said Jackie. She flipped through the pages and found the spell she needed.

'Dark magic form and shape.

Trap this one, don't let him escape!'

A dome of dark magic formed around Nightlight!

"Whoa! That is so awesome, Jackie! Now he's like a mini pet in a hamster ball!" Northwind exclaimed, getting the dome close to his face in amazement. "Can I keep him?"

Nightlight tried using his staff, along with kicking and punching, on the dome he was trapped in. Unfortunately, none of those attempts did little effect.

"He's a prisoner, not a pet, Northwind!" Jackie snapped. "And now that he's taken care of, we can start my new plan!"

"Whoa! A new plan?' Awesome!" said Northwind. "So...what is the plan, Jackie?"

Jackie smiled oh so wickedly. "One word: Daddy."

Hearing the word, 'Daddy', Northwind felt his heart drop to his snow boots. "D-D-D-Daddy?!"

Nightlight's head perked up on that, wondering how bad this situation was.

"That's right. We're gonna bring out the big guns and get THE Jack Frost, our dad, to help us take over this Snow Palace! And with this spell book, we'll be an unstoppable family!" Jackie explained with triumphed.

Through his building terror, Northwind managed to cut a smile across his face. "That's...great..."

"I know, right?! If we hurry now, we can rule Winter in no time!" Jackie said, totally hyped.

Nightlight had a look of worry. If Ever After High's version of Jack Frost is as bad as these Frost Twins say, then Lea and his friends might be in real danger.

"Uh, Jackie? Why don't I stay here to keep Crystal and her family from knowing your gone?" Northwind questioned, finding an excuse to not face his dad. "Also, what should I do with this little guy?"

Jackie rolled her eyes. "I don't know! Put him in a place where no one will find him!" she snipped. "When you're done with that, keep an eye on Crystal and her loser friends! Make sure they don't find out what we're up to!" She narrowed her eyes. "And if you mess this up...I'm telling Daddy you were the one who broke his snowglobe collection while practicing your snowboarding in the living room!"

Northwind squeaked. "Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good." Jackie transformed into a snow owl and flew away.

Northwind let out a sigh of relief, seriously feeling a lot of pressure. "Okay, Northwind, you got this. Can't let my sister down or else she'll tell on dad about what I did."

The nervous Snow Sprite looked at Nightlight, whom was giving him a tiny glare.

"Don't give me that look! Once I hide you, I'm gonna keep your little pals from finding out what we're up to until Jackie shows up. All part of the plan," Northwind replied, already moving.

Nightlight just continued kicking, punching, and stabbing the orb he was stuck in with little success. Whoever this world's Jack Frost is, he seems like a scary big deal to terrify Northwind.

As Nightlight vented, Northwind hid the puppet in the last place he thought no one would look: in his room...under his mattress. The teen dusted off his hands. "There! Under the mattress! The perfect hiding place!" He whistled a little tune as he walked away, proud of a job well done.

Seeing that Northwind was gone, Nightlight managed to jump and roll out of the mattress like it was nothing. Although trapped in a dome-like prison, the Wooden Toy is resourceful enough to use it for transportation until he could find a way out. His only hope was to find Lea, Crystal, or anyone in the Winter Palace to warn about Jackie and Northwind's evil plot to put everyone in an eternal Winter freeze before it's too late.

Around the icy halls of the Ice Palace, Wicca, Raven, and Jack followed Foxanne to find the missing spell book...and or Lea. For a while, when they couldn't find anything, they decided to double back on the scene of the crime to see if there were any clues they missed.

"So, if this is a world of next generation fairytales, which ones are you two from exactly?" Jack questioned, hanging his staff around on his shoulders like a scarecrow. "Along with your red-wearing friend?"

"Well, I'm the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West.," said Wicca. "Raven's the Evil Queen's daughter and Apple is Snow White's daughter."

Jack raised an eyebrow on that. "Hang on. Isn't Snow White and the Evil Queen supposed to be enemies? I thought those two wouldn't want their own kids near each other with one trying to poison the other and all that."

Raven sighed. "This is true. But trust me, I'm not half as evil as my mom was."

"That's true, too." said Wicca. "Raven's not even pretty evil. She wouldn't poison a fly."

"So, even though you're the daughter of a villain, you choose not to follow into the same path as her?" Jack clarified, actually intrigued. "Huh...cool. I'm guessing your mom wasn't happy about that?"

"Good guess," Raven said, nodding her head. "And my mom did pretty much anything to embrace being evil. Even taking over our school, poisoning my roommate, and basically driving me into a corner. But thanks to my friends, the only people who accepted me for me, the real me, we were able to stop her and things went back to normal."

"Wow...Sounds like your life in this world is almost exciting as mine," Jack said with a smirk, already getting his staff to touch the walls and leave some frost designs behind while continue walking.

Foxanne stared in amazement, admiring the gorgeous works Jack is doing.

"Well, I don't know if exciting is the right word." Raven admitted, rubbing her neck. "So much has happened, ever since I gave up my evil destiny. It's like planting magic beans that just keep growing and growing and causing more problems. I don't know if it was worth it..."

Wicca stopped walking and faced her friend. "Raven, how could you say something like that?" said the wicked witch. "If you ask me, you haven't caused any problems, you've accomplished things even greater than your mother ever did. Writing your own destiny, mastering your magic, and outsmarting and defeating the Evil Queen! THE Evil Queen! You're nothing like your mom, you're BETTER than her!"

Jack stopped, actually surprised that someone like Wicca would be giving the pep-talk to Raven on her choices in life. At first, the Winter Spirit thought that the Wicked Witch's daughter was just a bully who didn't care about people. But, after what he saw, Jack realized he was wrong.

"She's right. We all have a choice, Raven. Only we choose the road of our future paths, not others," Jack reasoned, now looking down a bit in sympathy. "...Just like how I chose to give up my own life to save my little sister."

That got everyone's attention. Including Foxanne's.

"Say what now?!" Wicca exclaimed, not sure she heard that right.

"You did?!" Raven gasped.

"Well, yeah. You didn't think I was born as a Winter Spirit, did you?" Jack asked, looking back up to Raven. "I was human, like Lea. Before I became Jack Frost, I used to have a family and a little sister. I always liked to have fun and joke around. Still do," he chuckled a bit, giving a half smile. "But then, one winter day, we were at the frozen lake and my sister was standing on thin ice. Literally. She told me that she was scared and afraid of falling in."

Wicca and Raven continued listening, very interested in Jack's story.

"So, what did you do?" Raven asked.

"I told her that she would be all right," Jack answered, giving a sad-like smile at the memory. "Instead of worrying, I said that we were gonna have a little fun, instead. I made her think of the situation as a game of hopscotch. I demonstrated by slowly moving towards my staff. Once it was her turn and she became close, I used my staff to grab and pull her away from where she was standing."

Although that sounded like a good ending, Raven, Foxanne, and Wicca sensed that there was more.

"Unfortunately, that move I did, it got me standing on the same cracked surface my sister was. The ice gave away, I fell in...and I never saw her again," Jack finished, lowering his head down to a point his eyes weren't seen.

Raven patted Jack's shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Jack."

Foxanne even went close to give a sympathetic hug around Jack.

Wicca was silent, she looked down at the cold, snowy ground.

"It's fine," Jack said, shrugging it off while lifting his head again. "It's over and done with. No sense getting depressed," he then gave a small smile. "Besides, saving my sister was my choice. I sacrificed myself so my sister can live her own life. Although I don't know how she grew up and turned out since it was a long, LONG time ago, I'm happy for taking the fall in the ice instead of her. It's why the Man in the Moon chose me and brought my spirit back to life with all the frost and ice powers. He saw how I was willing to risk myself to save kids like my sister from danger. That's what makes me a Guardian."

"Sounds like you've got everything under control." said Wicca.

They soon made it back and looked around the stands on the ice rink. Unfortunately, the team couldn't find anything.

"Warts! I can't find my spell book anywhere!" Wicca growled. "What am I gonna do?!"

"Whoa, keep your witch hat on! I'm sure we'll find it," Jack assured, already flying up for a better view.

"See anything, Jack?" Raven called from below.

"Nothing yet!" The Guardian of Fun hollered, only to spot something around the top views and decided to get a closer look on it.

Once getting close, it appeared to be a few white feathers and a small piece of purple patterned fabric caught on the icy railed cracks.

"Hey, ladies! I think I found something over here!" Jack called out, grabbing what he discovered and flew back down to show it.

"Huh. Feathers and cloth?" Raven said, holding the items in her hand. "Weird."

"You say weird, I say a clue." Wicca said. She took the items from Raven's hand. Then she reached into her pocket and took out a tiny satchel.

"What's that?" asked Jack.

"A little fairy dust." Wicca responded.

"Fairy dust?!" Raven gasped and took a step back. "Where'd you get fairy dust?! It's one of the most powerful magic ingredients!"

Wicca smiled knowingly. "Normally, a real villain always reveals her secrets. But not me." She winked. She took a pinch of dust from the satchel and sprinkled it on the items as she recited a spell.

'Fairy dust, shimmer and glow,

On these objects, fairy dust throw.

Lead us to the item's source.

Do not throw us off course'

The items glowed and floated in the air.

"Looks like your little magic dust has picked up something," Jack studied, looking at the girls with a playful smile. "Don't suppose you two want a ride with the Guardian of Fun on finding this spell book?"

"Sure!" said Raven. She looked at Wicca with eager eyes.

Wicca sighed. "Why not?"

"Alright then," Jack smiled, first getting Foxanne on his back and had her arms around his neck, like giving her a piggyback ride, before having each of his hands grab the Magic Girls'. "Hang on!"

Jack flew up in the air and followed the flying objects at high speeds.

"WHOOOOOA!" Raven shouted.

"This is awesome!" Wicca exclaimed.

Foxanne kept holding on while, at the same time, was enjoying the ride.

Jack laughed joyful. "Knew you three would love it!"

Meanwhile, Lea continued skating through the halls until she decided to go by foot and took off her Ready-On-The-Go Skates from her feet. The blonde teen was still devastated about making a fool of herself in front of everyone. And all because Wicca was ticked off over a small accident Lea didn't actually do.

"What was I thinking? Everything always turns out bad for me whenever things become good," Lea said, lightly crying a bit.

She looked around and found herself in a dark room with lots of book shelves. "Whoa! This must be the library!"

It's like a small icy version of Katherine's bookstore. The sight actually replaced her sad mood with curiosity.

"Hmmm...I wonder, if this is another dimension with different stories, maybe there's a book about this world's Jack Frost," Lea guessed, looking over the books. "Question is, which one is it?"

"It's this one."

Lea jumped and turned around to see Katherine, Bunny, and Veronicub. In Katherine's hand was an icy blue colored book with a black silhouette of a male guy's head looking left on the center. Along with some shiny icicle images around it.

"Kate?! Bunny?! Apple!? Uh...And a small human cub girl?" Lea exclaimed in shock, only to look confused on that last one.

Veronicub waved hello with a smile that made the blonde doing the same a bit.

"Wait, why are you all here?!" Lea questioned.

Apple smiled. "To find you, of course. What kind of friends would we be if we didn't come to comfort you?"

"Right..." Lea gently said, sheepishly rubbing her arm while being doubtful.

Veronicub snuggled against Lea, cooing. Lea's heart melted from the pixie's cuteness.

"Awww! You're so soft and cute!" Lea squealed, already going down to hug her.

Katherine chuckled a bit. "That's Veronicub. A Winter Pixie and friend of Crystal. She helped us find you here."

"Whoa! A real pixie?!" Lea said in awe. She petted Veronicub's soft head, which the pixie returned with sweet nuzzles. "Hey, that tickles!" the blonde teen giggled.

"So, what's this about another Frostbite?" Bunny asked.

That made Lea stop smiling and quickly stood up. "Uh, nothing! Nothing at all!"

"That there's another Jack Frost in this realm different from the one you know, Bunny," Katherine explained.

"Really? And why doesn't Lea want me to know?" Bunny asked, folding his arms while raising an eyebrow.

"No reason!" Lea quickly said, trying to get the book away from Kate. But the Guardian of Imagination kept it out of her reach. "Definitely nothing bad about his descendants or anything like that. It's probably boring! You don't even like Jack, anyway. Why know about this one?"

Bunny narrowed his eyes, making Lea shrink. "When it comes to ANYTHING related to Frost, I need to know."

"Lea, just tell him," Katherine said, giving the book to the blonde teen.

Sighing sadly in defeat, Lea walked over to Bunny. "Bunny...Do you remember Northwind? The Winter Sprite you met at the ice rink to carry my bag?"

"The dag with the goggles? Yeah, what about him?"

"Well...Although he isn't related to the Miser Brothers, Northwind is actually...Uh, Kate, you tell him!" Lea quickly said, not sure how to explain it gently.

"No, Lea. I already did my explanations to you and the others. It has to be you," Katherine softly responded.

Leo groaned while lowering her head. "Okay...Northwind and his sister, Jackie, are the descendants of this world's Jack Frost...And they're also like the main villains here," she answered fast yet audible enough to understand while waiting for the Guardian of Hope's freaked out reaction by hiding the book in her face.

Bunny exhaled a long, exasperated sigh. "I had a feeling you would say that."

That caught Lea off guard. "Wait, what?! Y-You're not surprised or shocked about it?!" she said, before looking at Kate. "Did you tell him before coming here?!"

"Didn't have to. Bunny figured it out himself…along with some helpful intel from Apple White, of course," Katherine answered.

"He asked me why I reacted when seeing Northwind and I told him the truth. I've never even heard of the Guardians of Childhood, so I asked Bunny about them after," Apple admitted honestly. "I was surprised to know that your Jack with the staff and blue hood was THE Jack Frost, after he told me his last name. From here, Jack Frost is supposed to be the most Wicked Winter Sprite forever after! Nearly as bad as his daughter, Jackie Frost."

"Are you kidding me?!" Lea blurted out, not believing her ears while having her mouth gaped in shock. "Your Jack Frost in Ever After was a villain, too!? How and Why am I the only one having a hard time believing any of this?!"

"Huh. She's taking it better than I thought," Katherine replied to Veronicub, not flinching nor cringing at all about her friend's freaking-out mode.

"Uh, I don't think she's taking it well, Sheila." said Bunny, growing worried for Lea.

"Oh, believe me, she is," Katherine assured quietly to Bunny. "I was expecting Lea to faint or throw the Jack Frost book to a wall or use her hockey stick to whack it across the room."

"Does Jack even know about any of this?!" Lea questioned, walking around in circles to think straight. "Because if he does, I'm worried he might lose his confidence of being a Guardian! It's bad enough that Raven was picked on for not being evil like her mom, but Jack!? I...I just can't imagine!"

"Lea, it's all right." said Katherine.

"No, it's not!" Lea argued, looking at the Jack Frost book from Ever After in sadness. "I've always looked up to Jack Frost. How he makes Winter and spread fun all over. But knowing there's another one that's the total opposite of the Winter Spirit I know and he has kids who are villains...I don't know what to think."

She closed her eyes tightly and let a few tears run.

"That doesn't mean the Jack you know is a bad guy!" Bunny replied. "What matters is that Jack Frost, OUR Jack Frost, is our friend, through and through."

"Lea, I can understand what you're going through. Knowing there are other different stories about people we look up to that turn out to be something else," Katherine reasoned. "I became surprised and devastated as you to know so many truths that I wish I hadn't. I even nearly tried to break the rules and help a particular character when it wasn't the right time."

Lea sniffled a bit while drying her eyes. "Y-You did?"

Katherine nodded her head. "I got so emotionally attached that I almost changed history and ruin the future, if Father Time hadn't stopped me. It really wasn't easy for me, but I had to be patient and wait for the right time to help."

Lea was silent as Katherine continued.

"There are all kinds of stories out there. This is just one of them. You must remember that the bond you share with the Jack Frost you know best cannot be severed. Your hearts will always be connected, no matter what story is written.

"...Thanks, Kate. I think I understand now," Lea replied, giving a small smile and giving Katherine the book back to her. "Just because there's one bad story of a different Jack Frost, it doesn't mean I have to change my perspective on the Jack Frost I know. He's the Guardian of Fun who creates Winter and done so much for everyone. That's the Jack I care about as a friend."

"Bingo, love." Bunny ruffled Lea's hair. "Now, let's go find Frostbite and the two witches so we can get back home."

"Wait, you left Jack with Wicca?!" Lea exclaimed.

"And Raven," Apple added.

"Yeah, after you skated away from the hockey game, Wicca's spell book has mysteriously disappeared and is somewhere in the Ice Palace," Katherine explained.

"Oh, no," Lea groaned, realizing where this was heading. "So while you three were looking for me, the others are out finding a spell book that belongs to the Wicked Witch's daughter?!"

"That's not the only thing that has disappeared," Katherine pointed out.

"What do you mean?" Lea asked.

"A certain wooden friend of yours has gone M.I.A, as well," said Katherine.

Lea gasped. "OH, MY GOSH! NIGHTLIGHT!"

"You mean he's not with you?" Apple asked.

"No! I never brought him, after I left!" Lea exclaimed, looking at Kate. "How did this happen?!"

"I really don't know. I was hoping he followed you from a distance, but I also had a sneaky feeling he might have gone to do something else," Katherine explained.

Lea took a moment to think back on this problem. "Wait a minute...Before I went back on the ice to continue playing with Crystal, Nightlight was trying to get my attention but I ignored him…"

"Not a good idea." Katherine said.

"I realize that," Lea replied, getting her backpack back from Kate to place her skates before leaving the room. "I have to find him."

"But how?" Apple said. "He could be anywhere!"

"I'm not sure," Lea admitted, looking at her bracelet in sadness.

"Hmmm...It might be a long shot, but I think I know a way," Bunny said.

"What?" Lea asked, looking at the Guardian of Hope.

"While I was with North getting your little toy fixed, he mentioned about the crystals having a strong connection when being together. Since you still have your crystal as a bracelet, maybe you can use it to find Nightlight,"

"But how do I even do that?!" asked Lea.

"The answer should be quite simple. You've been doing it from when confronting Pitch Black at the Grant Mansion when getting Nightlight back, turning that Nightmare version of Bunnymund into Dreamsand, and restoring the balance of children's beliefs to keep us alive," Katherine explained.

"So...if I believe, then my bracelet will act as a beacon to find Nightlight?"

Katherine smiled. "That's how it's supposed to work."

"Well, it's worth a try," Lea closed her eyes and concentrated to let all her belief in the Guardians, family, friends, and herself glow to find Nightlight.

Katherine smiled as Lea's bracelet glowed. "It's working."

Lea opened her eyes. "Whoa!" She extended her arm out and the glow became brighter.

"The brighter it glows, the closer you are to Nightlight." said Katherine. "Now, let's go find Nightlight!"

"Agreed. Come on!" Lea replied, already moving with her friends following.

'Hang on, Nightlight. We're coming,' the blonde teen thought to herself.


	7. Chapter 7

Outside the Crystal Palace, Jack was flying through the skies with Raven, Wicca, and Foxanne on him in finding Wicca's spell book.

"You girls doing okay?" Jack asked, still following that magical source.

"Just fine." said Raven. "It's almost like riding Nevermore!"

Foxanne didn't say anything. She was too scared and was holding onto Wicca for dear life. She didn't care if she might end up as a toad for invading a wicked witch's personal space.

But Wicca wasn't focused on the pixie that was wrapped around her hip like a girdle. She was too distracted.

Raven looked back and saw Wicca was very quiet. And looking very angry.

"You okay?" asked Raven.

"Okay? Yeah, despite the fact a family heirloom has been stolen from me!" Wicca snapped. "When I find whoever's behind this, I'll boil them in snail slime!"

"Calm down, Wicca. You'll get your book back and take care of the thief without going overkill on them," Jack assured, turning his head down to notice Foxanne scared out of her wits in flying. "First time flying, Foxanne?"

Foxanne nodded hard, still too scared to speak.

"Hey! There's a snow owl!" Raven pointed to said snow owl flying toward an icy mountain.

"Raven! This is no time for birdwatching!" Wicca said

Jack looked over at the snowy owl Raven saw and noticed something off. "I don't know, Wicca. Those feathers happen to look very familiar. And since when do owls wear ski-goggles on their heads?"

While focusing on the owl, the Guardian of Fun flicked his wrist to conjure up a few magical snowflakes around Foxanne to calm down. When one snowflake landed on her nose and dispersed into light blue sparkles around her face, it caused Foxanne to slowly open her eyes and began to enjoy the ride with a smile.

"Ski-goggles?!" said Raven. "Okay, there's a red flag right there! Jack! Follow that bird!"

"Already on it," Jack kicked his speed into high gear on not losing that owl.

The group of magical friends followed the bird to the icy mountain.

Jackie Frost went deep within the mountain and arrived before her an old wooden door laced with ice. Jackie reached out and banged on the door with the tip of her snow boot, after switching back into her Winter Sprite form. "Daddy! It's your favorite!" she sang sweetly.

Jack managed to land a few feet away from the entrance and proceeded with caution to get a better look. He peaked from the side to see a sprite-like girl with icy blue skin and white spiky hair.

"Uh, who is she?" Jack questioned while lowering his voice to the others.

Horror crossed Foxanne's face when recognizing the culprit and where they were standing. She tried to tell her friends who that is. Along with their location.

"Hey, genius. We don't speak pixie!" Wicca hissed.

"Wicca, shh! She'll hear us," Raven harshly whispered.

"Well, whoever this thief is, I'm gonna put a stop to her. I got this," Jack assured, already jumping in.

"No, Jack, wait!" Raven exclaimed, only to be too late.

The Guardian of Fun mad a leap, twisted his staff, and fired a frost blast at Jackie Frost.

"AAAH! What the-?!" Jackie screamed. Her feet were frozen to the ground.

"Sorry to ruin your little scheme, but I think you have something that belongs to my witchy friend," Jack announced his presence with his signature playful smirk and placing his staff on his shoulders very cool-like. "Why don't you pick on someone your own size and temperature?"

Wicca shoved Jack aside. "How about you save the stupid quips until AFTER I cast an evil spell on this little thief?!"

"Hey! I told you I was handling it!" Jack argued. "And you're welcome for stopping her."

Wicca pointed her green finger at Jack. "Don't tell me how to punish someone, Ice pop!"

Raven had to break them up. "Guys! Enough!"

"WHAT IS ALL THE RACKET OUT THERE?!" a voice howled before the door swung open.

Everyone turned their heads to see another Winter Elf. He appeared to be an adult male, had icy blue skin, short snow-white hair, white eyebrows, and violet eyes. He wore a dark blue blazer that matches his pants, a matching dark blue top hat, and had a cane with a dark blue crystal held in his right hand.

"Who is that guy?" Jack blurted out, seriously confused.

The icy-blue man shot a glare so cold, it would make ice insecure. "My name is Jack, Jack Frost."

Raven let out a gasp, Wicca glared heavily, Foxanne shivered in fear, and Jack only stayed silent while blinking only once.

The silence broke when the Guardian of Fun burst out laughing. "You're kidding me, right? I would have probably taken you as another Snow Miser, but me!? Come on!" he continued amusing himself like this was the funniest joke ever.

"Who is this clown?" Jackie's father asked.

"I'm Jack Frost, the Guardian of Fun," Jack answered a matter-of-factly. "And I came with the daughter of the Evil Queen and the daughter of the Wicked Witch of the West to get back a stolen spell book from this owl-girl,"

Jackie's father just glared. His cold eyes flashed as his body glowed and turned into an ice giant.

"I'M JACK FROST, YA DOPE!" The frost elf roared as he swung his arm and smacked Jack into the mountain wall, knocking him out cold.

"Jack!" Raven exclaimed, hurrying over to the Guardian of Fun's aid. "Wicca, cover me!"

Foxanne, although terrified of Jackie's father, quickly went to check on the good Jack Frost.

Wicca got in the path of the rampaging giant. "Like a shield, repel. I cast this force field spell!" A dome of green magic fell upon the small group of friends. The evil Jack Frost roared as he pounded at the force field, but it wasn't breaking.

"Raven! You guys get out of here and I'll take care of them!" Wicca said.

"What?! No, Wicca! We're not gonna leave you!" Raven hollered, helping the Guardian of Fun up with Foxanne doing the same.

The good Jack groaned while slowly coming to. "Twice whacked in one day. And I thought the first hit from Wicca was bad,"

Wicca growled. "Do you ever shut up?!" Suddenly, Wicca's force field was down! "What the-?!" She looked up in time to see a blast of magic coming right at her. Luckily, Raven pushed her out of the way in time. They landed on the cold ground together.

The two witches looked up to see Jackie Frost, free of her ice bindings and holding Wicca's open spell book.

Knowing that Raven and Wicca were in danger, the good Jack knew he had to act quickly. "Foxanne, take cover! I'm going in!"

Before the Fox Pixie could stop him, Jack quickly flew up and fired another frost energy blast at Jackie while creating an ice shield to protect the two witches from getting hurt.

"Oh, no ya don't, Poser!" Jackie Frost dodged as she recited another spell. "Going up, going down. Move no more, hit the ground!"

Jack cried out as a strong, magical force pushed him to the ground and pinned him down. "I can't move!"

Jackie walked over and stomped on Jack's hand, making the Guardian yell as his staff fell out of his hand. Jackie took the staff.

"Hey! That's mine!" Jack struggled to get out of his paralyzed state his body was dealing with.

"Jack! No!" Raven used her powers to teleport out of the ice shield he made for her and Wicca before creating a powerful magical blast to hit Jackie away from the Guardian of Fun.

But Jackie cast a spell to catch Raven's magic blast. "Back at cha, Raven Goody Good!" She threw the blast directly at Raven.

BOOM!

When the dust cleared, Raven and Wicca were gone.

"NO!" Jack screamed.

"Oh, yes!" Jackie mused.

"Atta girl, Jackie." Jackie's father said as he held Foxanne in his huge icy hand. "You beat those two witches no sweat."

"No probs, Daddy." Jackie said in her sinister sweet voice. "So, now that I have spell book and a wicked stick for me to hit people with, what do we say we have some real family fun?"

Jack continued struggling, knowing he and Foxanne were in serious trouble. And even worse, Raven and Wicca might have ended up into snowflakes with whatever spell Jackie casted on them.

'Maybe I underestimated this Owl Girl and evil version of me,' the Guardian of Fun thought.

"So, what do we do with these two dorks?" Jackie asked her father.

"I say we lock 'em up in a nice, tight cell where they can barely move." The evil Jack Frost suggested. "We can hang 'em up for everyone to see. Teach them all a lesson."

"Now you're talking, Daddy!" Jackie cackled with fiendish glee.

Not going to let these two villains win, Jack closed his eyes and concentrated deeply in breaking free from Jackie's spell. Although his staff was taken away, it was just a conduit to help keep his powers under control. He felt a magical icy aura form around him that was becoming brighter and bigger to a point that he can feel himself move again.

But it was too late. Jackie conjured up a cage that had him and Foxanne inside. "Time for a little road trip, Daddy!" Jackie mused.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the mountain, a cloud of green smoke poofed and Wicca and Raven appeared.

"Wha-What just happened?!" Raven gasped, amazed that she was still alive.

"I teleported our butts outta there!" Wicca said. She sighed and threw her head back. "This is hopeless! Now with that Jackie girl beating me with my own magic!"

"Wicca! That's no way for a wicked witch to talk!" Raven replied. "We got to get that book back and stop them!"

"But how?!"

Raven gave a smile. "I'm glad you asked." She whispered her idea to Wicca.

Wicca blinked and looked at Raven, surprised. "Really?"

"Trust me." said Raven.

Back at the Crystal Winter's Palace, Lea kept running through the halls with her bracelet glowing more and more. Bunny, Katherine, Apple, and Veronicub were doing their best to catch up without slipping around the icy floors.

"Uh, Lea?! Maybe you should slow down a bit?" Bunny suggested, making a sharp turn that ended with him hitting an ice wall.

"I can't, Bunny! Nightlight could be in trouble and I have to find him!" Lea exclaimed, not stopping.

"Whoa!" Apple nearly slipped if Bunny hadn't caught her in time. "Thanks for the catch. How in the kingdom does Lea manage to run without slipping?"

"I wish I knew, Sheila. I wish I knew," Bunny answered, equally amazed, too.

Lea's bracelet grew brighter and brighter. "Almost there! Almost there! Almost there! Almost-GYAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!" Lea screamed as she slipped on something round and started rolling down the hall.

"Lea!" Apple hurried to the blonde teen with Bunny and Veronicub doing the same. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm good," Lea assured, feeling her head. "I don't know what happened. It's like I stepped on a ball or something."

Katherine looked down to notice a strange mini-dome rolling around the floor and picked it up for a better look. "I think I found the cause. Along with our missing friend," she announced, already walking to the others to show her findings.

"NIGHTLIGHT!" Lea squealed, grabbing the dome and hugging it. "I thought you were a goner! You're okay!" She looked at him. "And you're...trapped in a magic hamster ball?"

"I would say that this is the strangest thing I've ever seen, but this is not even close," Bunny admitted. "What happened, mate?"

"This looks like one of Wicca's spells from her missing book. I once saw her do that on Duchess when she was in her swan form," Apple replied.

"Oh, poor Nightlight. I am so sorry for not paying attention to you in the first place," Lea apologized to her wooden companion, more sad than angry for what happened while placing an index finger on the dome. "If I'd listen, you wouldn't be trapped in the first place. I was a terrible friend."

Nightlight placed a hand to where Lea's ball-touching finger was with a sympathetic smile, as if telling her that he accepts her apology and doesn't blame Lea on this predicament.

"I believe he forgives you, Lea," Katherine said.

Smiling caringly, Lea let out a few tears and hugged the trapped toy one more time. "I'll never ignore you again, Nightlight. You're more than a toy, to me. You're a part of my family, and my heart. I don't care how long it takes. I'll find a way to get you out of there."

"You mean 'we', love," Bunny corrected, placing a paw on Lea's shoulder. "We'll find a way to get Nightlight out of his hamster ball. Along with who put him there in the first place."

"Agreed! Maybe Nightlight could tell us what he saw," Apple suggested.

"Very good thinking, Apple," Katherine replied, already lowering herself to face the trapped toy better. "Nightlight, may you please tell us what happened and who did this to you?"

Nightlight tried to figure out how to explain. He imitated opening a book and going through the pages.

"A book?" Apple guessed.

Nightlight nodded. He then imitated Jackie reading from the book and zapping Nightlight with dark magic.

"It looks like...someone must have used Wicca's spell book and trapped Nightlight in there!"

Nightlight pointed his nose, telling the princess she was right.

"Wow, Apple! I didn't know you could understand Nightlight, too!" Lea exclaimed, definitely impressed.

"Normally, Lea is the one who can translate what he's saying," Bunny explained.

Apple shrugged. "A royal has to know how to understand people."

"Can't argue with that. So, now that we know what happened, do you know who has the spell book and who trapped you in the first place?" Lea asked her Wooden Companion.

Now this was a challenge. How was Nightlight supposed to imitate that snow cold Jackie Frost?

Lea noticed that struggling look on her friend's face. "Nightlight, I'm not specifically asking a name. I'm aware that you're unable to talk unless you write things down on a piece of paper. I'm asking if you know who has the spell. Did you see who it was?"

Understanding, Nightlight nodded his head on the answer.

"Okay. Tap once on the dome if it's a boy, twice if it's a girl, or three if it's both of them,"

Nightlight tapped three times.

"Hmmm...Katherine, do you still have the book I gave you back at the ice library?" Lea asked, starting to get an idea on who they're dealing with.

"Sure do. It's in my bag," The Guardian of Imagination picked the trapped toy again so the blonde hockey teen can do what she needs to do.

Lea opened the bag and got out the book on Ever After's Jack Frost. "Are they the twin children of him?" she asked Nightlight, showing the book cover in front of him.

Nightlight nodded vigorously.

"Yep. I think it's clear who we're dealing with," Lea replied, already standing back up.

Just then, Crystal Winter arrived to hear everything and gasped in shock.

"What?! I can't believe it! I thought Jackie and Northwind got straightened out!" said Crystal.

"You should have just tossed them in the dungeon, Sheila!" Bunny exclaimed, turning toward the next Snow Queen.

"We'll worry about punishments later. Right now, we have bigger problems," Katherine reminded.

"Crystal, is there any chance you can break Nightlight out of this prison dome with your magic?" Lea asked, already putting the book back in Katherine's handbag.

Crystal took out her wand and sent a blast of her ice magic. But it did nothing to free Nightlight. "No dice. This is one strong spell. Since the magic came from Wicca's book, only her magic will free him!"

"Then that's what we're gonna do. We have to find the Frost Twins, get the book back, and stop them," Lea said with determination, getting Nightlight back from Katherine.

Everyone rushed outside the palace and gasped at what they saw.

"Looks like one of them has come to us." Apple said nervously.

"Crystal? Katherine? What exactly is that?!" Lea asked, clutching her trapped friend close to her chest.

Floating on a huge black storm cloud was Jackie Frost and her father, Jack Frost. The cloud growled with rolling thunder.

"That, is a wannabe villain trying way too hard to make an entrance." said Katherine, glaring at Jackie Frost.

"Well, whoever and whatever they are, we're not going to let them get away with this," Bunny replied, taking out his boomerang and ready for action.

"Where's Raven and Wicca when we need them?" Apple gulped, hiding behind Bunny.

Lea stared at the two villains carefully. She noticed that one was not with them.

"Where's Northwind?" said Crystal, noticing the same thing Lea did. "He's usually with Jackie."

"Um...over here." said a familiar, feeble voice.

Everyone turned and saw Northwind hiding behind a snowman he just built.

"Northwind?! What are you doing?!" asked Crystal.

"I'm hiding from my dad." Northwind whispered.

That actually caught the team off guard and staggered, looking at each other.

"Did he just say that he's hiding from his own dad?" Bunny asked, wondering if he heard correctly.

"I believe he did," Katherine answered, equally surprised on the inside.

"Why would you hide from your own family?" Apple asked Northwind.

"Yeah. I thought, for an evil family, you would be up there conquering together or something," Lea stated, slowly walking over to Northwind.

Northwind looked very guilty. "Well...I don't really want to be evil. I only follow Jackie's orders because she's the favorite. And if she's not happy, Dad won't be happy." He gulped. "Dad always played favorites with Jackie..."

Lea started to feel sorry for the Ice Sprite. All this time, she thought that Northwind was as cruel and rotten as his father and sister. But now, Lea realized that he was only following orders to impress his family.

"Northwind, why didn't you tell Crystal or anyone about this?" Lea questioned.

Northwind gave her a look. "Cause Jackie will tell Dad I used his snow globe collection for my bowling practice!" He gasped, putting a hand to his mouth.

"I don't believe it. Your own sister was blackmailing you?!" Lea exclaimed, completely angered about this. "That is just low! Family is supposed to support and help each other, not threaten and push them away!"

"Not this family." said Northwind. He squeaked when the giant storm cloud boomed and released a lightning rod. "TAKE COVER!" He dove into a snow bank for protection.

"Hit the deck!" Bunny exclaimed, grabbing Crystal and Apple before jumping out of the way on the left.

Katherine got Veronicub and jumped to the right.

As for Lea, she held on to Nightlight tight and took cover in the same spot Northwind was.

"Time to take over and rule winter as daddy and daughter!" Jack Frost roared with evil laughter.

"First thing to do; is find Crystal and lock her up with the rest of our prisoners!" Jackie said. "We can use her as leverage against her parents!"

With his incredible hearing, Bunny heard the two Evil Daddy-Daughter Frost's plan.

"We need to get you to safety, your highness. Those two are looking for you and planning to take you hostage so your parents can give the throne to them!" Bunny exclaimed, already directing Crystal out of here and have Apple plus Veronicub follow.

"Go, then! I'll try to slow them down!" Katherine exclaimed, taking out her dagger and running in to fight the two Frosts.

Northwind popped his head out the snow bank. "Whoa! What do you think you're doing?! You can't just fight them!" He rushed to Katherine and tried to pull her to the comfort of the snow bank.

"NORTHWIND!" Jackie screamed with anger. "What do you think you're doing?!"

"Stopping me from fighting you!" Katherine hollered, trying to keep Northwind from getting into trouble. "Northwind, play along. I'm not going to risk getting you hurt than you already have," she whispered to him while getting out of his hold and taking her dagger out.

Northwind just stood there, as Katherine confronted the Frost family. Someone actually tried to do something nice for him?

"Northwind! What are you doing?!" Lea ran out of hiding and grabbed the boy before running for their lives.

"Hey! Why are you doing this? Why would you protect me when all I've ever done was caused trouble in helping my sister?" Northwind questioned.

"Because that's what friends do! You could have attacked Katherine on the spot. But you didn't," Lea reasoned. "Last thing we want is to let innocent people get hurt. It's what Katherine, Bunny, and Jack stand for."

Northwind blinked. He started to think...something he wasn't all that good at. All his life, his father preferred Jackie because she was a thinker. Northwind never bothered to think, which often got him in trouble.

And what he was thinking right now...these guys are better to be around than his father.

Once in the clear by hiding in the Ice Palace gate, Lea took a moment to stop and chat with Northwind.

"Listen, Northwind. I'm from another dimensional world where certain myths and legends protect children's wonders, hopes, memories, dreams, imagination, and all things fun," Lea explained. "The boy with the white hair, frosty blue hood, and shepherd staff you met when getting my bag is one of them. That's my world Jack Frost, and he's the Guardian of Fun."

"Wait, what?! No way!" Northwind exclaimed.

"I know it's hard to believe, but it's true," Lea kept explaining. "At first, my Jack didn't want to be a Guardian. He didn't understand why he was chosen nor knew about his past. But, after dealing with a shadowy villain, Jack finally realized that he was meant to be a Guardian because he would risk his own life to save those that are important to him. Even if it was something scary,"

Northwind remained silent, hearing every word of what Lea was saying.

"It's because of Jack Frost, the Jack Frost I know in my world, that I love Winter. He creates this season all by himself but, at the same time, was lonely. Jack tried everything to get children to believe in him for three-hundred years with zero results. He could have chosen to be with the bad guy in spreading fear to be believed in when things were bleak. But he didn't. Having children fear him was something my Jack Frost doesn't want,"

"He…actually made Winter? All by himself?" Northwind managed to ask.

"Yes. Northwind, a few good friends told me that just because there's one bad Jack Frost story, it doesn't mean I have to change my perspective on the good Jack Frost I know," Lea placed a caring hand on his shoulder. "If you don't want to be evil like your dad and sister, then don't. Only you decide who and what you want to be. Raven Queen made the choice of not following into her mother's footsteps and inspired others into finding their own happily ever after. You can have your own life with a better ending than being locked away and alone."

The Ice Sprite looked down in sadness. "But I'm not brave. My powers are nothing compared to dad and Jackie's. I'm too scared to face them by myself."

"But you're not facing them alone. And you are strong. You just have to believe in yourself. Like I do,"

As she spoke, a strange feeling came over Northwind. Something he never felt before. Maybe this was...believing in himself.

With newfound strength, Northwind looked up at his tyrannical sister. He saw the spell book in her hand. "Alright, let's do this."

"Okay. We need to distract Jackie and your dad long enough to snag Wicca's spell book," Lea instructed, already getting her bag to take out some hockey pucks she brought. "I was thinking I can use my hockey pucks to swing shots at them, but I'm not sure if I can hit that hard and high enough to take them down. Got any better ideas?"

Northwind started to think. He groaned, as all this thinking hurt his head. "I think...I think I got an idea..."


	8. Chapter 8

Outside the Ice Palace, a massive storm was brewing. The Evil Frosts, Jackie and her father, were creating lots of damage. Katherine was dodging from many lighting rods and giant hail falling on both her and her friends. For a small dagger she carried, it was strong enough to cut through anything.

"We can't let them destroy my home! There are many innocent lives around the area and no time for evacuation!" Crystal exclaimed, already coming out and going in.

"Crystal, no! Get back here!" Apple replied in worry.

"It's too dangerous!" Bunny added, feeling Veronicub hug him in concern and just petted her head to calm down. "Apple, stay here and look after this furry ankle-biter. I'm going to help Katherine."

"Please, be careful!" Apple warned.

"Don't worry, Sheila. I will," the Guardian of Hope assured, already going on all fours to assist his friends in the battle field.

Crystal Winter approached the evil Frost Family, confronting them with no fear. "Jackie and Jack Frost! I'm giving you this one chance to stop what you're doing!"

Jackie gave out a laugh. "Yeah, right! How about a make you a better offer?" She snapped her fingers and the cage holding the good Jack and Foxanne inside. "Why don't you get in the cage with these two losers or we'll obliterate them here and now?!"

Katherine gasped in concern, seeing both her Guardian and Pixie friends in the Evil Frost's clutches. "Jack! Foxanne! You two have crossed the line! Let them go!" she yelled, lunging in to take action.

Jackie stomped her foot on the cloud. A powerful bolt of lightning struck down and nearly roasted Katherine. "Consider that a warning shot! Dad! Let's smash 'em up!"

Jack Frost jumped off the cloud and landed on the ground. Bunny stepped in the snow giant's way. "Don't think so, Mate!" He threw his egg bombs at him, keeping the evil Frost at bay.

"Katherine! Are you okay?" Bunny asked, still standing his ground.

Staggering up, the Guardian of Imagination nodded her head in answer. "Yes. I'm okay. But we have to rescue Jack and Foxanne. You handle this world's Jack Frost. I'm going to take back what Jackie stole from my Guardian."

Bunny gave a look at Katherine, raising an eyebrow on that statement.

Realizing what she just said, Katherine quickly replied, "I meant OUR Guardian friend! You know what I mean, just handle her father!"

Not arguing, Bunny followed Katherine's lead and went to take on Ever After's Jack Frost.

Jackie jumped down from the storm cloud and confronted Katherine. "Why don't I just handle all of you?!" With the powerful spell book in her hand, Jackie swirled her hand in the air, causing the storm cloud to grow rapidly.

_'Lightning and thunder grow._

_Let your destruction overflow!_

_Level the ground-'_

Just then, a snow owl swooped down and smacked Jackie right up her jaw. "OW! HEY!"

The owl picked up the book with his talons. He returned to Lea's side and transformed into Northwind. "Gotcha, sis!"

"Nice work, Northwind," Lea grinned at her new frosty friend before facing Jackie with a glare. "Not so powerful without Wicca's spell book now, are you? Time to show you not to mess with my friends!"

Without warning, she began swinging her hockey stick and shot many pucks at her.

"Quick thinking, Lea! Keep firing!" Crystal replied, hurrying by the blonde teen's side and using her wand to create more ice hockey pucks for her to continue fighting back.

"OW! OWOWOWOWOWOW!" Jackie yelped as she was continuously pelted by hockey pucks. She tried to escape by becoming a snow owl, but that didn't stop her as Lea had good aim and shot Jackie down.

"Sorry, Jackie! You're grounded!" Lea said.

With Jackie distracted and switching back to her Sprite form while standing up with the stolen staff, Katherine made her move by doing a leg-sweep maneuver to knock her down and take back Jack's wooden staff.

She grabbed the staff and tossed it over to where Lea was. "Northwind! Get this to Jack in the cage!" Katherine shouted.

"You heard Kate. We got this from here. Go help Jack," Lea replied to the good Ice Elf.

Nodding, Northwind switched into his owl form and used his other talon to snatch the staff and take it to the trapped Guardian of Fun.

"Oh, no you don't! Jack Frost roared, whom pushed Bunny away from him with his ice magic. He was ready to stop his son until a blast of purple magic repealed him.

"RAVEN! WICCA!" Apple cried with joy.

Riding on Wicca's broom, Raven Queen and Wicca West arrived on the scene.

"Special delivery!" Northwind called out, already giving the staff back to Jack close to his reach before landing back next to Lea.

With his staff back into his possession, Jack was able to break through the cage with ease.

"Come on, Foxanne. Let's get back to the others," Jack said, having the Fox Pixie climb aboard his back before escaping.

While that was happening, Wicca dropped down before Northwind. "Not bad, Nerd. You saved my book."

"Now, just do what I told you!" Raven called, soaring high.

Wicca nodded. She took her book from Northwind and concentrated, the book glowed green as Wicca absorbed the powerful artifact into her body. "It worked!"

Raven smiled. "There's more than one way to read a book!"

"Whoa! Cool!" Lea exclaimed, definitely impressed.

Katherine smiled. "A small callback from 'Way Too Wonderland', I see. Not bad."

"Now that the star players have arrived, let's end this!" said Wicca.

Raven flew down and joined her witch friend. They held each other's hands.

"Now, just do what I told you!" Wicca told Raven.

With a nod of agreement, Raven closed her eyes as did Wicca. They focused their magic to intertwine with one another. Their bodies bathed with powerful magic.

"Such overflowing power!" Katherine breathed in awe.

"So what?! Let's finish them, Dad!" Jackie said. She transformed and became a large polar bear.

The evil Jack Frost roared as he charged at the witches.

But Raven and Wicca didn't flinch an inch. They said a spell under their breath and unleashed a massive blast of purple and green magic.

"HIT THE DECK!" Apple yelled as the magic blast devastated the surrounding area.

Lea ran as fast as her feet could carry her from getting hit by the blast. Katherine and Bunny managed to take cover quickly, but Lea tripped and looked as though she wasn't going to make it.

Just when she thought this was the end for her, Lea felt herself grabbed and flown up into the skies super-fast.

"Gotcha," a familiar voice said.

Lea turned her head to see her Jack Frost free and carrying her. Along with Foxanne on his back.

"Thanks," Lea replied with a relieved smile.

"Don't thank me. Thank the talking snowy owl who gave me back my staff in time to save you,"

Everyone managed to avoid Raven and Wicca's blast. Everyone except Jackie Frost and her father.

Once the attack died down, the two were found lying on the ground. Out cold and defeated.

Northwind gulped, whom was flying next to Jack in his owl form. "Glad I was not in that crossfire,"

With the area clear to come back down, Jack flew down and gently had Foxanne and Lea get off.

"Uh...Are they okay?" Lea asked, really hoping that Raven and Wicca didn't went too much on that spell. "Please tell me they're not..."

"Chill, Worrywart. They're not dead." Wicca blurted out. "Just knocked out good and hard."

Lea sighed in relief. "Oh, thank goodness."

"Totally. Even though my sister and dad are mean to me, that doesn't mean I want them destroyed," Northwind agreed, landing and turning back in his elf form.

"Still, what they've done is inexcusable." said Crystal, using her magic to detain them and take away Jack Frost's powerful staff. "It's the dungeon for the two of them.

Bunny and Katherine hurried over to check on Lea, Jack, and everyone else.

"Incredible job, everyone, in stopping Jackie and her father from taking over Winter," Katherine complimented, turning to Northwind with a smile. "Especially you, Northwind."

"Yeah, not bad, mate," Bunny added, slapping the Ice Elf's back that made him tumble forward.

"Thanks, gang." Northwind said, quickly recovering from that backslap.

"So, what will you do now that your sister's in the clink?" asked Wicca.

"Honestly, I'm not sure," Northwind admitted. "I've been so busy trying to help Jackie and not get in my dad's bad side that I never had time to think about what I want to do."

"Well, whatever you choose, I know you won't do it alone to find your own path," Lea assured, placing a hand on his shoulder.

"Ooh! I know! How about Northwind transfers to Ever After High?" Apple suggested. "That way, he can figure out his own destiny better and make great friends to help him out!"

Katherine grinned at the Royal's suggestion. "Fairest idea, once again, Apple. As long as Crystal, her family, and Northwind himself agree with that."

"I think Northwind going Ever After High sounds fable-ous. My best friends forever after go there and they can help make him feel welcome," Crystal replied, giving the green light on that idea.

"Well, Northwind? What do you say?" Lea asked.

Once again, Northwind had to think again. And this time, he had to think for himself. When he took the time to think about it, he had a chance of having a better life at Ever After High than with his wicked family.

"Okay, I'm in." The snow elf agreed with no hesitation in his voice.

Lea smiled proudly before giving Northwind a hug.

"You're going to be great there," she told him.

Jack, Bunny, and Katherine smiled at each other. Despite not actual residents of this fairytale world, they knew that Northwind's destiny will never be the same again...in a fairy good way.

"Thanks again for that tip, Raven." said Wicca as everyone said their last goodbyes.

"No problem. I actually learned that when being at Wonderland," Raven replied.

"During the Queen of Heart's birthday, while being at the Wonderlandians' mad-tastic school, and facing Courtly Jester to stop her from stealing Lizzie Heart's destiny by signing the Story Book of Legends," Katherine furthered explained.

"I seriously need to read the series about this place," Lea said, only to feel a slight bump below her feet to see it was Nightlight, whom was still trapped in a hamster ball. "Oh! Right! Raven, can you please get Nightlight out of this ball? He got trapped by Jackie when having Wicca's spell book," she told the Wicked Friends while picking up her prisoned buddy.

Raven shook her head. "That spell was cast by Wicca's magic. So, she can undo it."

Wicca cracked her knuckles. She placed her hands over the dome and muttered a spell under her breath. The dome dissipated and Nightlight was free.

"Nightlight! I'm so glad you're finally free!" Lea exclaimed happily, already putting Nightlight close to her heart and gently gave him a hug.

The Wooden Companion did the same, causing both him and Lea's bracelet to glow.

"Whoa! What's with the light show?" asked Raven.

"That would be Lea's warmth in believing those she cares and loves shone brightly through both Nightlight and her crystal bracelet," Katherine answered.

"It was a special gift North made when first meeting us," Jack added.

"Whenever she focuses deeply, that happens. A reminder that no matter how old our blonde ankle-bitter gets, her belief in us will always stay young," Bunny concluded.

"Huh." said Raven. "Speaking of which, what will you do now, Lea?"

"I was really hoping to explore more here in Ever After and enjoy the break Kate has given me, but I guess we can't and have to cut the trip short after that," Lea replied, slightly disappointed.

Wicca patted Lea on the back. "You don't have to go. You can be my test subject for Home Evilnomics."

Lea took a few steps back. "On second thought..."

"I think it's for the best, Sheila," Bunny replied. "This isn't our home. We need to head back."

"But I'm sure we can come back here again. I mean, there's still so many fun things to do here," Jack added, showing a playful smirk. "Not to mention all the snow pranks on new people here that are total killjoys as the Easter Kangaroo."

Bunny shot a glare at the Guardian of Fun. "Stop calling me that! And I'll show you who's a killjoy!"

Laughing himself with enjoyment, Jack grabbed his staff and swiftly kept dodging Bunny from pouncing on him.

Katherine sighed while lightly shaking her head with a smile. "Silly Jack. He'll never change."

Lea sighed, happy and relieved. "Things are finally back to normal."

"I guess so. Sorry for not giving you a break. I was really not expecting any of this," Katherine apologized to Lea, feeling bad for breaking her promise on having a relaxing time.

"Don't be. At first, I was afraid that our Jack Frost would lose his confidence in being a Guardian after knowing there's another Jack Frost here who is bad with his twin children the same. But now, I realize how wrong I was," Lea explained, looking over to see Northwind hanging out with Crystal Winter, Apple White, and the two Witches.

"And it would seem that your kindness has given Northwind a change of heart," Katherine noted, smiling back.

Lea looked back at Northwind. He was talking to Apple about the arrangements that will be made now that he'll be a new student while Raven was convincing Wicca not to pull any freshman pranks on him.

"Yeah, sure looks that way." Lea said, smiling.

Life will never be the same, now that Northwind is going to Ever After High.

* * *

Moments later, the sun was setting at Ever After that left the area bathed in red, orange, yellow, and pink colors.

Lea, the Guardians, and Ever After students Apple, Raven, Wicca, and Northwind-along with the Snow Pixies, whom wanted to say goodbye as well- were now at the Enchanted Forest to say their proper farewells.

**_And so, as Lea was ready to depart with her friends-_**

**_WAIT! That's it, Mom?!_**

**_Brooke?! What in the kingdom-?!_**

**_Daddy! It can't end here!_**

Katherine, who can hear the narrators, paused and looked up before chuckling lightly. "Calm down, Brooke. I know you're probably disappointed about not getting to know us better, but I can assure you that we will return very soon. Maybe even meet all of us together in a special event happening here I originally plan on still using."

**Really?! You think so?**

"Of course. I did say before I had something in mind for all of the Guardians to come here as a surprise. And although Jack and Bunny's arrival was unexpected, it's not changing anything,"

**_Ohhh! Okay! Thanks, Kathy! Phew! That's a load off!_**

"Uh, Kate? Who are you talking to?" Lea asked, knowing there wasn't anyone around her friend.

"Just consulting with Brooke that our story here has come to a close, for now," Kate answered.

That made Lea raise an eyebrow. "Brooke?"

"Brooke Page. She and her parents can only be heard by few people because they're narrators of this dimension. Normally, it's Wonderlandians like Maddie and Kitty,"

"Okay...How come you can hear them?" Lea questioned.

"It comes with the perks of being the Guardian of Imagination. As a story teller who usually narrates herself, you tend to hear other narrators. I'll explain when we get back,"

"I hope so." Wicca said. "I've had enough insanity for one day."

"You'd think with past experience of attending Ever After High, a wicked witch such as yourself would be used to it," Katherine remarked.

"Hey, I'm entitled to a little break after every calamity." said Wicca. "Or do I have to make my point with another itchy spell?"

Lea squeaked and moved away from getting targeted again by Wicca.

Katherine, however, remained calm with a stern look. "That will not be necessary. We can clearly see your point. And, before leaving, I want to apologize for showing you that book about a certain student. I did not mean to make you upset. If it makes you feel any better, I won't read nor show it to anyone. It can be locked up in the Forbidden Section until the time is right."

"That's more like it." Wicca said.

"However, please know that this story of your first arrival will only be allowed to share by your permission. Meaning that I cannot unlock it unless you say so and believe it's absolutely necessary," Katherine explained, not leaving her cold stare. "I have many other unfinished stories that are yet to be unlocked. Some beyond my control. But hiding yours is far from the least concerns for me. I've dealt with worse than yours."

"You don't say." said Wicca. "Hm. Works for me."

Lea looked at Katherine, noticing the slight frustration in the Story Keeper's face. Whatever was in the Guardian of Imagination's mind, it seemed to show many emotions Lea had never seen before.

Taking a deep breath before letting it out slowly, Katherine returned her usual smile and said her goodbyes. "Jack, Bunny, please hurry with your farewells. It's time to go home,"

Lea gave Apple and Raven a hug. "Thanks for everything, you guys! I had a great day!"

"Don't mention it!" Raven said. "You really livened things up around here!"

Lea looked at Wicca, the witch had her arms crossed, her green eyes icy.

"Although you still terrify me and occasionally hurt me, Wicca, I hope to see you again soon," Lea calmly said to her.

Bunny gave Veronicub a sweet hug before giving her a pink, white, and purple Easter egg to her.

"Thanks for helping us, Sheila. I'll definitely miss you," Bunny said.

Veronicub hugged Bunny, truly thankful.

Jack bent down to be leveled enough for Foxanne. "I really hoped you had fun with me. I'll never forget a brave and sweet pixie like you."

Foxanne jumped into Jack's arms and snuggled with the furry pixie. Jack giggled as her fur tickled him.

"I'm gonna miss you, too, Foxanne," Jack said, giving a warm smile.

Lea looked at Northwind. "Good luck at Ever After High, Northwind."

The reformed villain smiled. "Thanks, Lea! It feels good starting a new chapter!"

"Yeah. Oh! And before I go, there's something I want to give you," Lea got put her backpack to pull out her creative tool box to get out an enamel snowflake charm stitch marker keychain with glitter resin, indigo sparkle colored.

"It's a stitch marker I made that's part key chain. And I want you to have it, as a symbol of our friendship," Lea said, handing it to him.

"Whoa! This is the nicest thing anyone has ever done for me!" said Northwind. "Thanks!"

Wicca rolled her eyes. All this niceness was making her sick.

"No problem, Northwind. I'm definitely going to miss you the most. I really hope we see each other again soon," Lea stated.

"Don't worry, we will." said Katherine, taking out her enchanted snow globe before tossing it over her shoulder. "This is goodbye...for now."

And so, the Guardians, Lea, and Nightlight said their goodbyes to everyone and went back home to their world.

Although this may seem like the end, the students of Ever After knew that they will return in another chapter.

* * *

**Finally finished this story! ****Hope you all enjoyed it. ****And yes, I do have another EAH RotG crossover special event planned in the future. But not right now. The next RotG crossover story will involve a show that involves a certain zone filled with spooky surprises and shrieking spirits. ;) This will be a tale you do not want to miss. Especially with some questions involving a character RD created in this series/show that have been unanswered for practically 2 years. Exactly why we're bringing it back now with this crossover.**

**To Guestsurprise: Yes, I would like you to create a fanfiction story about the Guardians of Childhood and Lea coming to see Cirque Mystique. If you have any questions or need help, let me know.**


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